


Burning Bridges, Crossed Minds

by Naruwitch



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Drama, F/M, Gen, Magic, Nightmares, Post-Season/Series 01, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Vampires, Violence, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-08
Updated: 2019-08-30
Packaged: 2019-11-13 17:02:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 25,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18035606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Naruwitch/pseuds/Naruwitch
Summary: Haggar's attack on the wormhole zaps Team Voltron to the mysterious and deadly planet Nirn. Rescued by some unexpected natives, the team must regroup and join forces with their rescuers if only to at least survive the nightmares Tamriel, and even they themselves, has to offer. M for violence and morbid themes. Will be triggers in the future! Takes place after season 1.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Voltron or Elders Scrolls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith has crash and Shiro is hurt. Will this stranger be able to assist?

"Coran, what's happening?" Shiro shouted over the coms.

"The integrity of the wormhole has been compromised! IT'S BREAKING DOWN!" Coran shouted over the alarms.

"WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?" Hunk asked.

"IT MEANS WE HAVE NO CONTROL OVER WHERE WE'RE HEADING!"

 

_Keith_

Keith struggled to somehow gain control of the spiral dive he and Red were making. This wasn't the way it was supposed to be, the witch's attack must have done something to the Castle itself, considering the launch doors never closed, sending Black, and judging by the screams in the com links, everyone else spiraling rapidly out of control into the wormholes outer walls.

There was an almost blinding flash, Keith yelled as the ground came rushing to meet them. The eyes of the Red Lion were spinning in front of him, making him nauseated as they plummeted to the ground. It looked like an open valley in a mountainous place but that could be completely inaccurate given the circumstances.

Knuckles white, Keith braced for impact. Red bulldozed magnificently into a small group of what looked like pine trees, taking a few down and skidding a few hundred feet until finally stopping.

' _I'm gonna have whiplash for weeks,'_ he thought dazedly, when he could see straight again and recognize they were no longer moving, he rubbed his face for a moment. His whole body felt stiff and sore, and he was still seeing spots.

"Red?" he questioned cautiously pushing and prying a few buttons and controls in an attempt to rouse his lion. She gave no response, he couldn't blame her. They're landing was anything but graceful and the fight with Zarkon had nearly killed them both.

Speaking of which….

"Allura, you have some serious explaining to do," he muttered, attempting to unbuckle his seat belt. It would have been immeasurably helpful to know that Zarkon was a former Paladin. The former BLACK Paladin, at that! Before risking Voltron's butt in a botched attempt to rescue her! If Shiro hadn't-

"Shiro!" Keith's head snapped up, his heart beginning to pound. He had almost forgotten! Shiro had landed on this planet too!

' _I've got to find him before something else does!'_ He thought, panicking. He finally got the belt off and almost fell out of the cockpit seat. Keith scrambled to his feet.

"Shiro? Can you hear me? SHIRO?" he shouted into the com. No answer, radio silence.

Keith swore and ran out of Red, his bayard morphing into the familiar sword as he sprinted away. He hated to leave her, but he couldn't do anything to help her at the moment. He cursed the valley as he ran, nearly tripping into a crevice after a barely judged leap over a boulder. This was anything but a smooth valley. Keith paused to take a half second to actually survey his surroundings. The area was dotted with large boulders and rocky structures, and everything from small foundation cracks to massive canyon deep crevices that could drop him for more than sixty feet and leave him as a Paladin pancake at the bottom.

He looked back up to where had been running to. There was a large column of smoke in the distance shielded by another small pocket of pine trees.

"Oh Black, please don't be on fire," he moaned, taking off again. If she was on fire, they didn't have the tools necessary to fix her, and who knew how long it would take for Allura and Coran to find them? Assuming the Castleship was still in one piece.

He abruptly decided to ignore that train of thought.

As he got closer, he noticed the columns slowly divided. It wasn't one fire, but many, concentrated around a single area. This couldn't be where Shiro had landed, but if it was a settlement maybe he could ask for directions or help. Keith tried to contact Shiro again, but all he got for an answer was a ragged sound like heavy breathing. Was he hurt? In pain?

Keith looked up and froze, his insides turning to ice as his eyes finally clapped hold on the settlement walls.

Heads. _Galra_ heads. Hundreds of them mounted on pikes like a second barrier wall. He even spotted a few sentry heads intermingled among them.

Keith's stomach turned as he accidentally made eye contact with the mummified heads. It seemed the Galra had definitely left a mark here, just not the one they probably wanted. Come to think of it… This was probably the first planet that he had seen anything like this, where the inhabitants fought back so fiercely that the GALRA had, he assumed, fled. Voltron might have just found its first major ally.

"OI! You down there!" Keith jumped, the loud gruff voice brought him promptly back to reality. Looking up, he noticed the guard towers around the settlement and the very large and very angry looking guard. It was a large… Man? With greenish grey skin, large tusks, and a short ponytail. He had broad shoulders and massive arms. He was glaring at Keith with beady eyes, his thick looking armor gleamed in the moonlight.

"You're not welcome here, Outlander. This is an Orc stronghold." he snapped, leaning forward intimidatingly. Panic made Keith's heart speed up again, his sword flashed back to normal and he pocketed it, holding his hands in the air. If these creatures did this much damage to the Galra, he didn't want to know what they would do to him. Not that he wouldn't fight but it didn't exactly look like the odds were in his favor.

"I come in peace!" he blurted out, feeling a little idiotic, but he had a feeling his life depended on this creature's first impression of him. He didn't want his head on one of those pikes.

"Get moving then, milk-drinker!" he growled looking disgusted. Keith arched an eyebrow.

"Milk-drinker? What's that supposed to mean?" he retorted maybe a little more aggressively than was advisable. He'd been here for less than two varga and he was already getting insulted. Or… that's what it sounded like.

Apparently, this was the wrong response to have, the creature lifted an enormous warhammer, grunting angrily.

"What are you gonna do about it, boy?" he snarled, Keith felt his stomach drop.

' _Wrong thing to say!'_ He felt adrenaline starting to pump through his body, blood pounding in his ears as he prepared for an assault. He forced himself to breathe deeply for a moment.

"I'm not here to pick a fight! I'm lost, and I'm looking for my friend. He's taller than me, and wearing black armor similar to mine!"

' _And please don't behead me!'_ He added to himself, he didn't think he could do much universe saving with his head mounted on a pike. Or much else, really. The guard never stopped glaring at him, the nostrils on his flattened nose flaring.

"Head north towards Markarth. If your friend is still alive, the most likely place he'll head to. NOW SCRAM!"

' _Don't need to tell me twice!'_ Keith thought as he booked it north. He sprinted as fast as his legs could carry him, as far as they could, away from the furious green guard. Taking guidance from his helmet since he lacked any other kind of compass.

After about 200 ticks of sprinting, he slowed, crashing into a boulder, gasping and leaning against it for support as he caught his breath. He was only sure of two things at this point. The first being the Galra had been here and were either slaughtered or forced to retreat. He sort of wished he had had the chance to ask the guard a few questions about that.

And second, the inhabitants on this planet were either really violent or really territorial, considering how irritated the guard had been for being asked a simple question by an "Outlander".

He pushed off the boulder and started jogging again, knots of worry knitting in his stomach. If Shiro or the other Paladin's had landed here and were… Alive… like the guard had said so wonderfully skeptically, was it that easy to die here? Forget Allura and Coran, as soon as he found Shiro, they were booking it off this place. Alliances could wait.

Keith paused again, he had no idea if the Black Lion had landed in the North. How was he supposed to—

"Idiot!" Keith facepalmed, their helmets could track each other's location! This entire time he could have actually been making progress towards Shiro! He tapped his helmet a few times, an arrow sprang up, pointing out the location of the Black Lion.

' _Hey, they really did land north,'_ he thought, relieved.

"Shiro? Shiro, can you hear me? Shiro?" he started sprinting again, desperation making him talk a little louder into the com links, he needed Shiro to answer. If Shiro was unconscious when they had landed, he should have been up by now. It had been at least two varga since they crashed!

It was surprisingly easy to find Black. She had left a 200-meter long skid with desolated trees in her wake before stopping near a large boulder. She seemed to be semi-conscious. But Keith couldn't see Shiro.

Keith froze as a chill ran up his spine, it took him a moment to register what he was seeing.

There was blood everywhere, a pool by Black's paw, and the rest of it looked like it had been walked through. It was oddly dark, blackened almost. Keith's heart started pounding as he looked closer. Paw prints, large paw prints everywhere, they lead to the pool of blood which he could only assume was Shiro's, and then away to the right. Small blood spatters made the paw prints look dirty.

"Quiznack!" he swore, scrambling in the direction the prints lead. Had Shiro been attacked? Was something eating him?

' _No no no! Not happening!'_ He thought, terrified.

"SHIRO! ANSWER ME! SHIRO!" he shouted, at least he didn't hear any bones crunching on the other side. Keith tore up the slope leading into a small mountainous area, following the small barely worn path. An animal path. He tripped on some of the rocks and nearly ate dirt but continued his desperate climb anyway. Dodging around demented looking blueberry bushes and large, cracked boulders. As he rounded the final switchback, he spotted a small cave opening. Keith stopped for a moment, gasping for air. There was a fire going in the cave where the blood trail led. So either something was actually helping Shiro, or just liked their long beef cooked through. He crept to the mouth of the cave, peering in. He had to take a moment to process what he was seeing.

Shiro was there, hurt badly and judging by his unsteady breathing he wasn't doing well. There was a small fire lighting up the cave, and he seemed to be on some sort of medieval sleeping bag. Leaning over him was… Well, he wasn't entirely sure. Some sort of tiger lady, with a large fluffy tail, a thick, white, styled mohawk, in what looked like leather armor. There was a staff with a crescent moon by her on the sandy floor.

Shiro was hurt badly, the cat lady moved and the shadow disappeared, revealing large gashes on his side and torso, which was very likely the cause of all the blood. Keith frowned, she was stroking his head and murmuring in a language his com couldn't translate. Shiro seemed to be completely unaware of his surroundings, which explained the radio silence. He watched her prod at the wounds, muttering. She had already removed his shirt to inspect his injuries. Keith watched her hands light up with golden light which she was trying to use on the wound. Violet sprang out and lashed at her hand every time. She growled and ran a hand through her thick hair in what he assumed was worry and frustration.

' _He must have gotten those wounds during the rescue,'_ Keith thought, his stomach twisted as he noticed how blackened the skin around the wounds was. He stepped forward, taking a breath. Before he could do anything, the lady pulled out a large dagger and buried it in Shiro's chest, hilt deep.

Keith froze, horror and rage making his vision go red.

"NO!" he screamed, drawing his sword and charging her.

 

_Kisibhi_

Kisibhi moved silently between the large boulders, doing her best to move quickly over the rough terrain above the roads leading to Markarth. She was exhausted from her flight but had finally outrun the sounds of the Forsworn, who were slowly invading the area, and that had held her captive for almost four days. Jone and Jode, the moons, lit her way nicely as her exhaustion rendered her night vision almost useless. Her head snapped up as a blinding flash like lightning lit up every crevice for a few seconds. Kisibhi watched as what looked like a ball of fire fell from the sky and crashed only two miles ahead of her in a small pocket of pines. She stood, rooted to the spot. Torn between curiosity and fear, she should keep running. Divines knew how long it would take before they caught up to her, or she could investigate.

She tore off in the direction of the crash, adrenaline giving her energy. She leaped over boulders and running farther and farther from the main road. She slowed to a near silent jog, panting slightly and tasting the air every so often to stay on track.

Kisibhi flinched, gasping, as a loud mental keening filled her mind. She doubled over, almost vomiting from the intensity of the call. Someone, or something, was in distress. Once she could see straight again, she continued a little more slowly, easily honing in on the crash site. She had only heard anguish like this one other time, and that was when she tried to heal the wounds inflicted on her people by the Galra monstrosities.

She stopped dead just inside the tree line, staring into the clearing in shock. At the end of the skid marks was the meteor. She gapped, the meteor was a giant metal khajit.

Kisibhi closed her eyes and focused on the distress signal, trying to feed a feeling of peace she didn't have to the creature. It turned its massive head, staring at Kisibhi. She smiled hesitantly, caught somewhere between awe and fear. She walked forward slowly, the smell of hot metal and burned soil was rank in the air.

"This one can help," Kisibhi told it soothingly, holding her hands up slowly. She flinched as the Being pressed against her mind, almost urgently. Kisibhi hesitated for only a moment before allowing it past her walls, creating open communication between herself and the giant black lion.

 _My Paladin! You must help my Paladin!_ The lion pleaded, Kisibhi looked around the clearing carefully, finally spotting the figure. It lay, crumpled on the ground, almost completely still. Kisibhi looked back at the lion but it had already laid its head almost mournfully on the ground. Kisibhi scrambled over to the figure, praying it wasn't already dead. He smelled tainted, slowly, she knelt down next to him. His breathing was ragged and unsteady, and his face was twisted with pain. He had both hands pressed against his side, blood was oozing between his fingers and pooling in the snow around him. She carefully pulled his hands away for a better look, sickened by what she saw.

There were four long gashes like the claws of an angry beast beginning from his back to his mid-torso. The wound itself very faintly glowed with violet light, malignant energy seemed to radiate from his body. Kisibhi looked away for a moment, shuddering. She had only seen wounds like this during the war with the angry purple elves, many hundreds had died from the poisoned magic. She shivered as the images passed by her mind's eye. She jumped, terrified as a voice split the silence around her.

"Shiro? SHIRO? CAN YOU HEAR ME? SHIRO!" she spun, looking around. But no bushes rustled, no feet beat the earth. Nothing, she was alone. Her fur was fluffed up and her ears were flat against her head, her heart pounding as she looked around again. Finally, she realized the voice was coming, somehow, from the black armored boy's body. Silence quickly returned as the voice cut out. The boy moaned in pain, he convulsed for a moment as the poison sank deeper into his body. She saw a tear slip down his cheek, he opened his eyes for a moment. Gasping for breath, he glanced at her and turned his head away. She could practically taste his fear.

Taking a steadying breath, Kisibhi slipped her arms under him and lifted him up, bridal style. He was surprisingly heavy, she grunted under his weight.

' _This one will take him to a safe place to heal him,'_ she told the lion, she received no response. She shrugged and began hiking up the rocky terrain towards the rivers and caves of the Reach. She stumbled a little, cursing when she almost dropped him.

"Dark moons! Kisibhi is sorry!" she hissed quietly to him, glancing around cautiously before leaving the safety of the trees completely. She followed the small, careful path she had created the many times she had hidden and taken refuge in the sandy cave. Her paws guided her quickly, familiar with the pits and sharp rocks along the path. The weight of the task ahead of her rested on her shoulders like an unwanted mantle. The cave entrance appeared finally, and Kisibhi hurried towards it, her arms and back aching from the strain of carrying him for so long. He had begun to shudder again as the poison spread more quickly. It was killing him. Fast.

She hurried inside the cave, laying him on the floor and spreading her bedroll. She carefully shifted him onto it, making a small fire for light. It crackled merrily. Kisibhi sighed, running her claws through her mane.

' _This one could ward the place but…'_ she glanced at him, he was already so far gone any magicka she used had to be used on him. She hurried to his side, he was writhing in agony, and calling out in a language she couldn't understand.

' _So long as he isn't calling a Daedric Prince, this one doesn't care,'_ she thought, struggling to figure out how to unclasp his armor and remove it. He cried out again, her heart felt pierced for his pain.

He grabbed her wrists, gasping and pleading. Kisibhi pried his fingers off, she could easily overpower him but what good would that do outside of hurting him more?

"Please stop struggling, this one is trying to help you!" she snapped exasperated, if he didn't stop moving he was going to die before she could even fully examine the wounds!

' _Moon sugar,'_ a soft voice in her head whispered, Kisibhi grabbed her satchel, rummaging through the contents as she tried to find the small yet priceless pouch of sugar. She grabbed his hand before he could dig his fingers into his wound again.

"Hush kitten, this one will stop the pain," she told him soothingly, her stomach tightening into knots. He clenched his jaw against another spasm of pain. Kisibhi forced his mouth open, measuring a careful pinch onto his tongue and forcing his mouth closed so he wouldn't spit it out. He was almost sobbing as he tried to pry her hand away from his mouth. She stroked his hair, waiting desperately for the drug to kick in. Slowly, he relaxed. The drug bringing blessed relief from his suffering.

Unheeded by his constant writhing, Kisibhi searched until she finally figured out how to get his thrice-cursed armor off. It wasn't a design she had ever seen a blacksmith use or any material she was familiar with. She pulled it all off, including his odd under armor shirt, tossing it aside and freezing. The fire illuminated a crisscross of scars on his chest and shoulders, she imagined many of them were on his back as well. She sucked in a breath, lightly touching the old brand on his side. She had never seen anything like it, but she knew a slave brand when she saw one.

The scars on her back burned white hot for a moment.

Shaking herself, Kisibhi began inspecting the rapidly blackening flesh around his wound. It pulsed with a sick violet light, he winced a little as she carefully moved the rotting flesh around and looked deep into the wound. She summoned her restoration spells, the golden light flowed down towards the wound, but the violet light lashed out at her hands, burning her. She ripped her hand back, gasping in pain. Furious, she tried again, the energy lashed out at her, this time cutting her palms.

"Dark moon and dull claws!" she swore, she tried one last time and was warded off again. Kisibhi ran her hands into her mane, scared.

"This one doesn't understand. What is in you, kitten?" Kisibhi demanded, frustrated. Her options had run out, she glared at the wound. Never taking her eyes off of the violet light, her hand found a grand soul gem inside her bag. She placed it on her thighs carefully, her hand resting on her dagger, the blade glowed with a soul trap enchantment. She chewed her lip, glancing at the spot just beneath his ribcage. Kisibhi glanced at the wound again, covered the boy's eyes with one hand, and plunged it into his chest. His body seized, he gasped for air.

"NO!" her head snapped up, horrified by the scream. There was another boy, dressed in similar armor. He screamed drawing a sword and charging her. Kisibhi scrambled back, grabbing her staff and deflecting his blows, he was swinging wildly at her, barely in control. Kisibhi swore as he nicked her exposed arm, disarmed him, and summoned Oblivion chains which secured him to the cave wall. She glanced at the soul gem, breathing hard from the effort of defending herself. A steady stream of violet light with a white middle streamed into the soul gem until it ceased.

His soul was trapped.

The red kitten started mouthing off, she could tell by his tone that it was neither polite nor kind. She could hazard a guess it was obscenities and insults about everything from her tail to her fur color and what he was going to do once he got free of his bindings. She scooped up the soul gem, cradling it tenderly and glared at the red kitten. He quieted down after the end of what she assumed was a rant and stared at the black kitten's corpse, choking on his own grief.

"Hush, mewling kitten," she hissed at him, anxious to finish what she had started "Kisibhi is saving his life, trust this one for a few moments and-" something slammed into her, sending her crashing to the ground. The soul gem skidded across the sandy cave floor, Kisibhi kicked whatever had her off, scrambling away and grabbing the gem. She spun around, the fur along her scruff and shoulders standing up in horror when she saw what had attacked her. The dead kitten was standing, reanimated. His metal arm and eyes glowed with violet magic, the malignant presence seemed to fill the cave. She had never seen a poisoned wound take over a corpse before, something was very wrong. He charged her, she dodged around him, kicking him away. The red kitten was released as her attention went solely to keeping the soul gem safe. She tossed it to the red kitten.

"Don't break that!" she snapped, dancing around the reanimated corpse and blasting him back with bolts of lightning. It dove at the red kitten.

"Shiro?" he yelled stumbling away, eyes wide and terrified. Kisibhi intercepted it, using its momentum to throw it away from the red boy. She wasn't as lucky for the next attack, taking a blow that sounded with an audible crack as her ribs broke. Kisibhi couldn't breathe but forced herself to dodge the next blow aimed at her face. She didn't need a broken jaw too. It tackled her to the ground, grabbing at her throat, she flipped it over her head and pinned it, trying to keep its murderous hands away from her throat. It elbowed her broken ribs, she went blind from the pain momentarily and was slammed into the floor as a result. The red kitten was coming forward.

"NO! Stay back!" she shrieked, trying to throw the corpse off of her. She would have said something else but the metal hand wrapped around her throat, crushing her windpipe. The other hand grabbed one of her wrists, digging its thumb into it and sending pain up her arm. Kisibhi clawed at the metal arm desperately. Her vision was beginning to go dark. She looked up into his blank face, his eyes glowed purple with the creature inside him.

' _He's possessed!'_ Her blood went cold and rage made her stomach curl. Her mind seemed to settle and hold onto this one piece of knowledge. She blasted him off of her with a bolt of lightning, his body slammed into the ceiling and landed several feet away. She tried not to focus on the damage she had caused to the corpse as she gasped, head throbbing, scrambling to her feet. She raised a shaking hand and threw a ward up between the red kitten who had frozen in fear, still clutching the soul gem, and herself and the possessed boy. She was a little unsteady on her feet, but she kicked her staff up into her hand and took a defensive stance, squaring off with the creature.

It smirked at her.

Kisibhi wiped the look off its face with a combination of fire and lightning, which slammed the corpse into the wall. She summoned Oblivion chains that bound it to the floor on its back. It struggled, gritting its teeth and trying to break free. She snarled at it, her ears flat against her head, tail lashing back and forth. She was exhausted and completely fed up.

"One nice thing," she rasped, digging through her bag, "This one was trying to do ONE nice THING!" she pulled out her last magicka potions and drained them, they were disgusting. She shuddered as her stores were forcibly replenished. It was never a good feeling. She tossed the bottles aside and pulled out a black soul gem. It could hold any soul, and if she was right about this creature, it could hold it too.

' _Julianos please let me be right,'_ she thought she spat blood into the sand and mixed it into a gritty, unpleasant looking paste. She started painting it onto the chest of the bound creature. It glared at her, she ignored it.

"If this goes wrong, run as you have never run before, red kitten," she called over her shoulder, still meticulously painting the sigil on its chest. It bared its teeth at her, she hissed back. Glaring coldly at it, she held the black soul gem over the middle of the sigil, some force ripped it from her hand. It slammed into the designated place and acted like a tether, essentially nailing the creature to the floor. She pressed both of her scratched palms on either side of the sigil and took a deep breath. She forced her magic into the body, latching onto the entity and dragging it forward, it was excruciating. Her mind burned, and it spread like fire through her arms and hands. The creature lashed out, forcing her to relive her enslavement and the slaughter of her people. Kisibhi winced but forced the creature closer to the sigil and away from her mind. It was fighting, tooth and claw. The mental attacks only made her more determined to destroy it. It touched the sigil and was forced inside the soul gem, its screams filled her mind and made her cry out. Gasping, she shook her head and continued dragging it bit by bit into the sigil.

It tried to thrash, but she had already extracted it from the limbs of the body. The only places left that were possessed was his head and chest. Kisibhi gritted her teeth and forced it into the gem. All at once the screams in her head vanished. Her arms shook, but she bounced her magicka throughout his body again checking for any traces of the creature. It was... Essentially silent. Entirely dead and empty now. Kisibhi peeled the soul gem away, the sigil was charred into his chest and the surrounding skin was bruised.

She stared at the spot for a moment before reaching for her staff, upon contact it slowly began to replenish her stores. Her head was pounding from how quickly she had drained her pools of magicka. Slowly the pain eased enough for her to think clearly again. She clutched her staff for support and began the long process of reconstructing the broken parts of the corpse she had just butchered. She healed the wound from her knife, she carefully reset his broken bones and healed them, the burned and fried muscles, the charred skin, and cracked skull. Her hands glowed with golden restoration spells as she stitched the gashes and mended the tears, it was slow and painful work. But it was expertly mended.

"Dark moons…" she moaned, rubbing her face. She still had to force him back into his own body. She turned and looked at the red kitten, he had his back to the wall and looked terrified. Taking a deep breath she stood, leaning on her staff for support she walked over to him, her side burned. The ward flickered and went out, restoring some of her magicka.

"This one needs that gem now, to finish healing black kitten," she told him tiredly, holding out her hand. He looked down at the glinting gem he was cradling. She took it from him gently, he slid down the wall onto the floor. Kisibhi stumbled back over to the corpse. Her knees gave out once she reaches his side, she didn't need to stand. Kisibhi carefully painted another sigil onto his chest, this time out of moon sugar and purified water she mixed into a thick past and painted onto his chest. Kisibhi lifted the gem and slammed it as hard as she could into the ground, it shattered and a flash like lightning filled the cave. White light streamed into the sigil, she watched as his soul returned to his body.

After every last flicker of light had reunited with his body, he gasped. His eyes flew open. Kisibhi murmured soothingly to him, stroking his hair. After a moment, he fell asleep, his breathing even and deep. His face was flushed with life. Kisibhi smiled for the first time in days, looking over her shoulder at the red kitten.

"This one did it, black kitten lives!" she laughed softly as sweet relief filled her. She had saved him, just like the black khajit had asked. Kisibhi scooped up the soul gem fragments and tossed them into her bag for safe keeping. The red-armored boy crawled over, staring at the slow rise and fall of the black kitten's chest.

"Shiro?" he whispered, eyes widening. Kisibhi pressed a faintly glowing hand onto her side, wincing as her ribs shifted back into place and healed. The red kitten took the "Shiro"s pulse and looked at her, unnerved but also grateful. She reached forward and healed the cut on his brow.

"Now you can both rest…" she mumbled, nearly blinded by the pain in her head.

Kisibhi blacked out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge has landed... and she's not alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Elders Scrolls or Voltron :'(

_Pidge_

Pidge kept her eyes sealed shut as the feeling of free falling shook the whole cockpit. She would have screamed but her jaw was clenched so tightly no sound escaped. The jolt of impact and the bounce right after almost made Pidge empty her stomach. Green tumbled to a sharp stop, and then all was silent. Slowly, Pidge opened her eyes, heart pounding and fingers still tingling.

She stared out, all she could see was a lot of white, wherever she had landed, it was covered in snow.

"Well, that could have been worse… I guess…" she mumbled, she poked a few buttons and tried the screens but all the systems were down. Green was fried, and it was probably a safe guess that she wouldn't be back up for several varga.

"Okay… Okay girl, rest a bit. Don't worry, Pidge," she said aloud, beginning to talk to herself "you know the old saying, 'If you're lost, the best thing to do is stay put until someone finds you'," she told herself nodding.

 _This will be nice, some ME time… No one to bother me for several hours of blessed silence…_ she thought sitting back in her seat and closing her eyes. Her finger tapped out a rhythm on her armrest, boredom quickly taking over her adrenaline-soaked body. Her hazel eyes snapped back open.

"Never mind, screw sitting around," Pidge hastily unbuckled her seatbelt and all but bolted out of the Green Lion. A blast of frosty wind greeted her as she stumbled out into several feet of snow. Most of it was melted around Green's heated form. Her mask flashed up to cover her face and she shivered.

She tapped her helmet a few times, after a moment, it picked up what she could only assume was a road.

 _If there's a road, then there must be a settlement somewhere,_ she thought beginning to trudge through the snow if there was it was too far for her helmet to pick up. But at least she was `doing something. She looked up and sighed, between her and the road was an enormous hill, with a small thicket of what looked like pine trees.

"Just my luck," she glared at the hill before beginning to stumble up it, tripped a few times and crawling as the thick sheets of snow gave way and she slid back several feet. She was making less ground then her effort was going into.

Huffing in frustration but still determined, she struggled up, sinking knee deep in the snow and slush every time. But at least she was making some progress. She silently thanked the inventor of the paladin armor. It was space proof and waterproof, so logically it should be snowproof. Or at least preserve her body heat for a while.

The path she was making eventually led her into the pine trees, where the snow was considerably easier to walk in. She smiled sadly at the familiarity of Earth, before the Kerberos mission and before all the crazy Voltron stuff began, Matt and her dad would explore rivers, lakes, canyons, mountains, in all kinds of climates to prepare themselves for the Kerberos samples. She'd even joined them on a couple less extreme ones, she had even found her own—

She was torn back to reality as she tripped over a tree root and nearly ate dirt.

 _This is why computers are better!_ She thought bitterly, _this black snow had been hiding the… Black snow?_

Raising her head, Pidge couldn't stop the scream that tore from her throat. There was a body pinned to the tree by six daggers, it was mutilated with its throat torn out. The snow around the whole clearing was stained so dark it was almost black.

She saw movement out of the corner of her eye, Pidge spun around, drawing her bayard which morphed into her katar. She held it out defensively, arms trembling. Across the small clearing was a very tall woman with a hood and mask, black robes with steel plating, and a black handprint on the chest plate. There was a large golden sword strapped to her back. Pidge was frozen to the spot when she met the woman's eye.

They glowed like live coals in the darkness, with scarlet irises and golden pupils.

 

_Ailith_

Ailith trudged through the snow, leaving a drained corpse and a few choice daggers behind. Her footprints were dark behind her, the snow stained red. She wiped her mouth as she went, her eyes on the horizon toward Winterhold.

She inhaled deeply, enjoying the crisp cold night air. It almost burned her lungs it was so cold. Ailith froze at the smell of hot metal. It was barely a hint on the wind, she frowned and sniffed again. It was definitely there, strongly. Annoyed, she turned and stalked towards the smell to investigate, if it was another Galra ship she would just clear it out now and then continue on to the city.

 _Why does a Galra always show up while I'm in the middle of a contract?_ She wondered, sighing. She pulled her mask up to cover her face, only her eyes could be seen under her hood. She broke into a light jog, enjoying the light breeze and clear night. The moons' light made the snow glitter like diamonds, and aurora lights danced across the velvety dark sky. She moved deftly and quickly, slipping through the snowberry bushes without even rustling them, she came around the side of the hill, she paused. There was a figure struggling up the snowy incline towards the pine thicket. She watched quietly for a moment as the small, yet admirably determined figure struggled closer and closer to traumatization. Ailith blinked slowly and began the hike up the hill, she got there first and leaned against one of the thick pine trees waiting with the patience that 678 years of Dark Brotherhood experience brings. She watched the small, possibly bosmer, woman stumble over a tree root and look up, screaming as she registered what was hanging on the tree. Ailith smirked and pushed off the tree, walking forward slowly. The girl spun around, holding a weapon out with trembling arms. Her bright hazel eyes were wide and frightened. Ailith froze, staring at her.

 _Oh, Sithis… No…_ she thought the Blade of Woe vanished from the hand she had hidden behind her. Staring back at her was almost identical to…. No… It wasn't possible…

_Ailith stared at those bright, tear-filled hazel eyes. A contract crumpled in her fist and a knife in the other. The girl was so small, so frightened… Why did she have to be on the contract…? Why in Oblivion was she part of this contract…?_

Ailith shook her head slightly, slowly holding up her empty hands.

"Who are you?" the child shrieked her hands were shaking so bad Ailith doubted she even had a firm grip on her weapon.

"Easy now," Ailith said calmly, her voice was smooth and soft, "I'm not going to hurt you," her burning eyes flicked between the girl and the corpse pinned to the tree. She reached up and slowly pushed her hood back, letting her mask fall down. There was no contract this time. No contract. She shook her long silvery hair back from her face, it fell in a wavy sheet.

"Where did you come from?" the girl demanded, sounding braver. Ailith forced herself not to smile, tried to keep the emotion from her face.

"I saw you climbing the hill. What you doing out here alone, child? This is Stormcloak territory, you could be killed," Ailith glanced around nervously as she heard snowberry bushes rustle in the distance. They needed to leave the area. Now.

"Child? I'm 14 years old!" the girl protested Ailith laughed coldly at that, she grinned at the girl's frightened expression.

"Yes, yes. 14, such a ripe old age. I'll consider you near adulthood when your…. say... 103. That's… about a sixth of my age," she smirked again as the girl's eyes went wide.

"Oh…" she breathed, Ailith chuckled again. She was 22 when she was turned, an unpleasant experience she didn't want to remember right this second. She shook her head slightly to clear the images away.

"Come," Ailith beckoned her "you don't want to be caught out here by the guards or the wolves," the girl remained stock still, jutting out her chin defiantly.

"You gonna skewer me too?" she demanded, Ailith glanced at the body again and let out a short impatient sigh.

"Don't be an insufferable guar, I have no plans to harm you," she snapped back, crossing her arms. The rustling in the bushes was growing louder, she just couldn't pick out if it was a platoon of soldiers or some large animal. She didn't really want to stick around to find out either. If it was guards, it would end in a blood bath that she would really rather avoid.

"I can manage by myself," the girl responded stoically, Ailith shrugged and backed into the tree line again, vanishing into the shadows. She watched, silently unsheathing her dwarven claymore as a low thunderous growl filled the clearing. The girl spun around, backing up slowly and still holding her weapon out, the sabercat stalked into the clearing. Its golden eyes on the girl's frail frame, she stumbled back, tripping on a tree root and landing hard on her back. Ailith tensed at the same time the sabercat did. But she was a half second faster, launching herself into the clearing and intercepting its pounce. Lashing out viciously, it backed off, snarling at her. Ailith let out a battle cry and charged the cat. It lashed out but she blocked the attacks with wards and buried her sword hilt-deep into its chest. She tore it out and slashed again and again until it collapsed, she glared at the girl, wrenching her sword out of its neck and finishing the job mercilessly.

"Are you going to come with me now? Or do we need a dragon to attack you first?" Ailith huffed, cleaning her blade and sheathing it roughly. The girl nodded silently, accepting Ailith's hand as she yanked her to her feet and guided her out of the clearing hurriedly.

"My name is Pidge…" the girl told her quietly, her voice shaking a little. Ailith pulled her mask back up, smiling softly.

"I'm Ailith," she told her, handing Pidge the only water skin she had that held… Well… Water.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's chapter two. Told you this was a while in the making! So here's my co-writers second OC, Ailith. She's found Pidge, and that makes three of the five Paladins safe. Next chapter we'll see what Hunk and Lance are up to and later on, Allura and Coran as well.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's Lance and Hunk!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Elders Scrolls or Voltron

_Lance_

Lance felt like he had semi-control of Blue, his knuckles were white on the throttles as he fought to keep her from spinning out of control. Something slammed into them, hard, shaking the whole cockpit. Sending Blue and Yellow rolling and screaming through the wormhole.

"WHAT JUST HAPPENED?" Hunk screamed in the coms.

"I DON'T KNOW! JUST HOLD-" Lance would have finished but the coms cut out as they entered the atmosphere of a planet and spiraled rapidly towards the ground. They were losing altitude fast and he couldn't regain control. He could barely make out was coming up to meet them. They slammed into something so hard Lance thought it would tear him loose from the pilot seat. Gasping, he looked up, they were sinking in greenish blue liquid, and slowly coming to a surprisingly gentle rest on the bottom of what he assumed was a lake or ocean.

"Hunk? Hunk are you okay?" he asked into the coms, his voice was hoarse from screaming, he cleared his throat painfully. Waiting on edge for a response. All he heard on the other end was heaving.

"What… What did you say, Lance?" Hunk asked weakly he sounded wretched and exhausted.

"You just threw up, didn't you?" Lance sighed a little, rubbing his face.

"Yeah, kind of…." Hunk mumbled in response. Lance felt a spike of pity for him. Hunk had always had a weak stomach, which had gotten progressively better since becoming a pilot, but after that rollercoaster of a crash, he really couldn't blame the guy for emptying his guts all over his cockpit. He kind of felt bad for Yellow too.

"Right. Anyway, how's your lion?" Lance asked, trying a few controls, he heard Hunk doing the same over the coms.

"Yellow's down, you?"

"No- Oh! Never mind!" Lance replied cheerily as the dash lit up and Blue hummed back to consciousness. Her systems flashing back on surprisingly fast. "Welcome back, beautiful!" Blue's eyes glowed gold as she scanned the bottom of the lake, not much except for some fish and kelp. Nothing dangerous, anyway.

"I'm not picking up anything hostile in the water, I think it's safe to swim to the surface," Lance told him, exiting his lion curiously.

"What? Why would we-" Hunk paused and then sighed, "-you're out of your lion..." Lance peered through the depths of the lake.

It must be evening, it's so dark, he thought, still looking around the eerily silent lake.

"Come on, we need to scope out where we are," he told Hunk, starting towards the surface slowly.

"Oh? What makes you think that I'm going to do that?" Hunk demanded Lance sighed. He hadn't expected a different reaction. It wasn't exactly in Hunk's nature to go exploring creepy lakes. A mischievous grin crept across his face, unless…

"Okay, you can stay here, by yourself, at the bottom of a creepy lake, in the dark, alone"— he was abruptly cut off.

"DON'T LEAVE ME!" Hunk scrambled to exit his lion, Lance fought to keep from bursting out laughing. He had never seen Hunk move that fast. Ever.

With the assistance of their jetpacks, they wasted no time breaking the surface and making a beeline for the shore. Gasping, Lance dragged himself out of the water, Hunk stumbling after him. They barely had time to catch their breath, let alone admire the beautiful surroundings, when a hair rising howl split the air. Lance spun around, something very large and very angry was charging them at horrifying speed.

"WHAT IS THAT?" Hunk screamed as they tore off down the beach, running for their lives.

"WEREWOLF!?" was the first thing past Lance's lips, this made Hunk run faster, threatening to leave him behind. Of course, he had no idea if that was a werewolf but he didn't really want to find out. Lance struggled to keep up, he didn't have quite the same energy from his fear that Hunk seemed to possess in bulk. The larger Paladin was actually starting to leave him behind.

"HUNK! WAIT!" Lance shouted terrified he was about to be eaten, Hunk didn't seem capable of slowing down.

I'M GOING TO DIE! he thought, horrified.

"COME BACK, MILK DRINKERS!"

 

_Hildegarde_

Hildegarde sighed, rolling her shoulders back. It had been weeks since she could remove her armor, and it felt good. She pulled her braids out, running her fingers through her thick reddish-brown hair, it fell down to her hips in a wavy sheet. She wandered out onto her porch wearing nothing but a light ivory tunic covered in soot stains and brown trousers that were torn off at the knees. She tossed her mace onto the table next to her as she sat down, finally relaxing. She was sore from traveling, and her feet hurt, but she was home now. Hilde put her feet up on the railing, leaning back in her chair and smiling. Her lake was smooth, barely touched by the breath of wind, the sky was clear, a soft breeze brought the sweet smell of evening pines and wildflowers. She picked up her bottle of wine, the cool glass pressing against her lips.

Two balls of fire appeared, she watched frozen in horror as they crashed into her once still lake. She slammed the bottle back onto the table, sitting up, the red liquid almost sloshing out onto her hand.

"I know they didn't just land in my lake!" she roared, throwing her chair back, leaping down the steps and charging towards the lake. The wolf in her chest howled for a hunt, she obliged, shifting into her wolf form, and racing to the lakeside. She snarled, lapping at the water, and glaring out across the rippling water. Two figures burst from the depths, swimming quickly towards the shore, a low growl started in her chest and she tore off towards them. Hilde howled as she got closer, it would be no fun if they didn't even run for her to give chase. She was still almost on top of them before they screamed and ran for their lives. Hildegarde roared at them, almost casually lopping after the two figures as they ran. She picked up their scent.

Human?

Hilde picked up the pace, rapidly closing the distance between them. Shifting as she went, it was excruciating to turn so quickly, but soon enough she was stumbling after them in her human form.

"COME BACK, MILK DRINKERS!" she shouted, they looked over their shoulders and started to slow the pace until they stopped, doubled over, gasping for air. Hilde scowled at them as she got closer, she reached for her mace, glancing down when it wasn't there. She saw it in her mind's eye on the table.

Perfect she thought bitterly, no skull crushing tonight, she was panting and slowly getting her breath back. The one in yellow had tears streaking his face, and jumped at every noise, she almost wanted to laugh. But they had interrupted what would have been a wonderfully relaxing evening. They both held up their hands as she stopped in front of them, huffing in annoyance.

"WHERE DID IT GO?" the yellow very nearly shrieked at her, he was on the verge of tears and looked like he wanted to cling to the blue armored boy. Hilde raised her eyebrows.

"What are you talking about?" she asked a little coldly, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

"That THING!" he shuddered, glancing around a little wildly, tears beginning to stream down his face again. Guilt flickered in her stomach, she shifted her stance a little awkwardly.

"That was me," she replied, shrugging. Terror filled their faces, they looked ready to book it again.

"Please don't eat us…" The blue one mumbled under his breath several times, he looked petrified. Hilde rolled her shoulders and sighed a little.

"Typical werewolf paranoia," she muttered, the yellow boy pulled his helmet off and wiped his face, she wondered if he had messed his breeches as well. "If I wanted to eat you, I wouldn't be talking to you right now" she pointed out, gesturing for them to follow her. They did, surprisingly. Although they still looked terrified, she led them back towards her manor. They weren't Galra, as she had originally thought, and they didn't smell like Galra so it wasn't a trick. Just two boys who fell from the sky and very nearly wet themselves. Hildegarde glanced back at them every so often to make sure they were still following her.

"Um… Lady, who are you?" the yellow asked timidly, he seemed to have composed himself and reclaimed the shreds of his dignity. She smiled kindly back at him.

"My name is Hildegarde Shattered-Blade. I expected to be ripping apart Galra tonight, which you're not. And no Galra crawled out of my lake with you. Who are you?" she asked, frowning a little. She could practically feel them exchange another look, they were doing that a lot. She paused and looked at them expectantly.

"I'm Lance, this is Hunk. We're the Yellow and Blue Paladins of Voltron. You may have heard of us," Lance replied, taking his helmet off, flipping his short hair, and smiling a little suggestively at her. Hildegarde gave him a blank stare before turning back to the manor and heading to the stairs leading up to the open porch.

"WHY. ARE. YOU. FLIRTING. WITH. A. WEREWOLF?" Hunk hissed through gritted teeth, she smirked a little, grabbed her untouched bottle of spiced wine, and holding the door open for them. They exchanged yet another look before walking slowly inside, gapping at the interior and workmanship of her hands. She had built the entire thing, ground up, by herself.

"Come on," she sighed, leading them down the stairs to the main floor and dining hall. It was occupied by a large table, an enormous hearth with a fire crackling inside, goat horn chandeliers, a set of double doors that were both open and showed a nice view of her stocked kitchen, small side and back rooms, cluttered with the occasional vase growing various herbs. The smell of freshly baked bread and venison soup wafted from the kitchen, she heard their stomachs growl loudly.

"Sit," she ordered, marching off into the kitchen. She could see them through the doors, looking around nervously but sitting obediently at her long table. They had been smart enough not to touch the large chair by the fire that she normally occupied. She pulled out hot loaves of bread, ladled two bowls full of thick soap, and brought it out to them. Tossing the bread on the table, but placing the bowls more carefully, she returned to the kitchen and brought out cheese, watered down wine, water, and jazbay grapes.

"You're….Feeding us?" Hunk asked cautiously, Hilde smiled a little, sitting heavily in her chair by the fire and taking a long draft of wine.

"Yep," she replied shortly, licking her lips. She watched them scarf down the meal, Lance ate a little more slowly than Hunk, but the food rapidly disappeared anyway. She stared at the fire quietly for a moment, mulling a few things over in her mind.

"I don't know what Voltron is, all I know is that the last time meteors came to Nirn in the form of ships, a people called the Galra came," she took another sip of wine, "and they left desolation and misery in their wake… Are they your friends?" she asked, finally looking at them again. Hunk frowned and Lance looked a little taken aback.

"No. Definitely not our friends," Lance replied firmly, she smiled at how tense they looked.

"Good, otherwise I would have eaten you." Hildegarde chuckled, drinking again. It burned all the way down and filled her with warmth. "They came from above, we fought them, and they fought back. A few thousand of us died… A few hundred thousand of them died. They ran away, or, well… Flew away. But I dare say the Orsimer still have a few hundred mummified heads on pikes outside the strongholds. They didn't taste good, but their weak little bodies were entertaining when they broke. You just have to hit them hard enough," she laughed a little, even as the psyche scars from the battle itched in her mind. The wolf in chest lifted its head and growled, Hilde shook her head slightly. She looked at Lance and Hunk who sat frozen at her table, wearing identical expressions of terror and curiosity. They also seemed to be a few inches farther away. They exchanged a look she couldn't quite catch now that her mind was buzzing with wine.

"Wait, the Galra came here? And they lost?" Lance sputtered weakly, looking half shocked half impressed.

"They came during a time all the armies were mobile, preparing for an all-empire civil war. Just marched in and demanded fealty to their high king, who is probably as pathetic as they are, and expected to walk out alive. I wasn't there personally, but I fought alongside my parents when the invasion started," she took a thoughtful sip, "the warrior who killed the envoy mounted him on a pike and waited for the invasion to start. It was pretty impressive," she explained, her cheeks beginning to tint pink from the wine.

"That's… cool?" Hunk mumbled, they looked downright horrified. Hildegarde smiled warmly at them again.

"You needn't worry. As long as you aren't here to make the same request, you'll be fine. I won't let you get eaten by anything," she told them softly, in an almost bemused way. She stared off into space, her mind drifting to the Galra war and the slaughter that had happened among the people of Skyrim. She swallowed hard, blinking several times to get the screams out of her head. Hunk tried to hide a yawn, but Hilde saw it, they both looked exhausted.

"Come, there are spare beds. Follow me," she stood, swaying for a moment before leading them back up the stairs, they followed her silently, only the soft pad of their feet could be heard. She gestured vaguely at the room filled with beds and went to her own room. Flopping onto her makeshift bed and falling asleep quickly.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's chapter 3 and we have found Lance and Hunk. We, unfortunately, won't see Allura and Coran for another few chapters but they will come eventually.


	4. Chapter 4

_Pidge_

Pidge struggled through the snow behind Ailith. The vampire was much taller than her and tracked through the snow like it was nothing while Pidge struggled and huffed behind her. She could see the road in the distance, it was practically snow free while off road the snow came up almost to her hips. Ailith seemed to have no trouble and glanced back every so often and stopped while she caught up. Pidge looked to her left, mountains and enormous snow drifts, to her right was a river, half frozen, and what looked like ruins in the distance. It had taken them roughly fifteen minutes to struggle the distance they had come, it probably would have taken less if Pidge hadn't had to use so much time and energy pulling each foot up and out of the snow to take another step. Ailith sighed impatiently, Pidge was to busy trying to get her foot out to notice the vampire come back over. Pidge yelped as was lifted up and thrown over Ailith's shoulder.

_'I won't complain,'_ she thought, exhausted, her legs ached and it had been a very long day.

Progress now unhindered by Pidge's short legs, Ailith walked swiftly with a sense of almost urgency, they were moving along now.

"Did you kill that guy? And if so, why?" Pidge asked suddenly. If she wasn't walking she might as well ask her newfound ally some questions.

"Yes," Ailith replied curtly, although she didn't answer the second half of the question.

"WHY?" Pidge demanded, Ailith sighed a little.

"Is that information vital to this relationship?" she asked quietly, Pidge thought for a moment.

"Depends, are you vital to my survival?"

"Probably," Ailith muttered just loud enough for Pidge to hear. She swallowed and decided not to pursue the matter. Ailith was clearly not in the mood to discuss her reasons for murder, and Pidge was a little frightened at the answers she might get from the cold woman.

"…So, what are you, exactly?" Pidge asked finally, although a bit more politely.

"Vampire," was the reply, although in a gentler tone than before.

"… Are we talking _Twilight_ or _Dracula_ vampire? What do you mean by a vampire?" Pidge asked curiously, thinking vaguely she ought to take notes on this conversation.

"I don't know or care what either of those things is," Ailith responded dryly, pausing for a moment to shift Pidge's position before continuing her previous pace.

_'Right…Stupid question,'_ Pidge thought, remembering abruptly that this wasn't Earth.

"Do you know what a vampire is?" Ailith shot back, although Pidge could have sworn she sounded amused. Pidge smiled a little.

"Depends on the novel. _Twilight_ vampires sparkle in the sun, while _Dracula_ vampires turn to ash when the sun touches them. Both drink human blood… Okay, well, _Twilight_ vampires drink animal blood too, I guess" Pidge explained quickly, wondering too late if Ailith would be insulted by either answer.

"…Interesting." was the only response, but at least she still sounded amused. Pidge took a deep breath.

"Well? Which one? Or Neither? I mean, there are plenty of other vampire books where I'm from, I'm just most familiar with those ones," Pidge pressed, eager for an answer. Ailith sighed a little.

"I'll go with neither. I don't sparkle in the sun, but I don't turn to ash either. I don't drink animal blood, that's disgusting." She growled, Ailith abruptly swung Pidge into a bridal style position. She didn't look angry, merely entertained.

"Oh good! I'd have nightmares for weeks if that was true. The sparkle thing, I mean. No idea how Stephanie Meyer came up with that… Okay, never mind. I do know, but I'm not going into detail…" Pidge paused to breathe; Ailith shook her head slightly, smiling a little. Pidge took that as her cue to continue. "So, do all vampires here go in the sun?"

"…No. I can go in the sun because I take precautions. Other vampires aren't immune and it tends to be a scorching, unpleasant experience for them." Ailith explained a little quieter now that Pidge could actually hear her over the wind.

"Like what?"

"See this ring?" Ailith shifted one of her hands into view; there was a thick silver band on her finger, ornately carved with a skull as the centerpiece of the band. "It's made out of my own blood, vampire ash, silver, and several hefty enchantments of my own design."

_'Looks like vampires are emo here too,'_ Pidge thought, smirking.

"So if you take off that ring you'd be like other vampires?" Pidge inquired, touching the band lightly before Ailith shifted her hand back.

"No. I'm a little higher up on the food chain than most vampires,"

"…What does that mean?" Pidge felt a little unnerved by the glint that had come into Ailith's eye.

"How about we talk about the Hierarchy of Vampirism once we get to an inn?" Pidge fell silent, Ailith's tone had shifted and she took that as her command to cease talking. The Green Paladin remained silent until they had reached the road, where Ailith set her back on her own feet gently. They continued down the road, Ailith looked tenser as they went.

"Where are we going?" Pidge asked finally, it had taken her almost ten minutes to get the nerve to talk back up. The vampire had not worn an expression that invited conversation.

"Closest town right now is Winterhold. I have business there in the morning, so we will stay the night at the inn," Ailith explained, Pidge was surprised by how gentle her tone was. She looked grumpy. Pidge could see the mentioned town ahead, a few lights from the houses flickered in the clear light. It took Pidge a few minutes to register that calling this place a town was a little generous, only a few buildings were standing with roofs and signs of habitation. The rest lay in rubble.

"…What happened to this place?" Pidge barely breathed the question, but Ailith appeared to have super hearing.

"The Oblivion Crisis," she replied, shrugging "it completely leveled the city, and they never bothered to rebuild it."

"What's the-" Pidge was abruptly cut off by Ailith holding up a gauntleted hand, silencing her.

"I know what you're going to ask, let's save that conversation for another day," Ailith told her almost coldly. Pidge blinked but shrugged and didn't press the matter; Ailith seemed to be in no mood for more questions.

Finding the inn wasn't hard, it was one of the few large buildings still standing and in relatively good shape. On the way, they passed a few guards patrolling, they didn't so much as blink at Pidge's odd armor or Ailith. They must have been used to seeing odd things by now. Under the eyes of the guards, Pidge suddenly realized how much her armor made her stick out, even if the guards weren't blatantly staring.

Pidge did a double take when she glanced up at Ailith. The vampire suddenly looked… Well… Human. Blue eyes, cheeks flushed with life, she was still nearly seven feet tall, but if Pidge hadn't known any better she would have thought Ailith was alive.

"How…?"

"Keep walking," Ailith hissed, placing a hand lightly on Pidge's back to usher her along. The vampire pulled a cloak out of her bag and thrust it at Pidge to throw on. "Take your helmet off," she added, Pidge silently obeyed, clipping her helmet to her belt, whipping her glasses on, and hiding her armor under the robe before being led inside the warm inn.

Inside the inn was warm, a long fire pit took up the center of the room, she could see many doors leading to rooms. Several patrons sat drunkenly at their tables, nursing tankards of alcohol. There were racks of dried herbs and meat hanging by the bar counter. Pidge blinked when she felt her stomach rumble. The smell of cooked meat and stew reminded her abruptly that she hadn't eaten in almost 7 or 8 hours earlier, on the Castle ship. Pidge felt her cheeks heat up when Ailith glanced at her and smirked.

Ailith spent little time ordering a room with two beds and tossing a small coin purse at the bartender. She pulled Pidge to the room and deposited her inside. Before she closed the door, she tossed a sharp knife at Pidge's feet, she almost mistook it for a small sword.

"If anyone tries to come in here, stab them repeatedly and don't stop until I'm back," she ordered before closing the door. Pidge swallowed hard, unnerved by her sudden solitude. She would have argued that she already had a weapon, but Ailith was already gone. She glanced at the dagger glinting on the floor, apparently, this place was so dangerous you had to sleep armed.

_'Great, just great,'_ she thought, drawing her bayard nervously. She took a fast tick to examine the room they would be staying in. There were two beds, a small window, a wardrobe, and a small nightstand. It wasn't fancy, but it was clean. It wasn't all that different from a motel on Earth, just a bit more… Rustic.

The jiggle of the door handle caught Pidge's attention.

_'That was fast… Wait, when Ailith left the dagger, was that supposed to imply she would be gone for a while?'_ Pidge thought, a little panic-stricken. She took a deep breath, holding her bayard defensively and preparing to strike, hoping the shock feature would at least render the intruder unconscious. The door opened, and Pidge lashed out, a deft hand grabbed the bayard, twisting Pidge's arm hard and fast enough she lost her balance and was disarmed. Pidge landed heavily on her back.

"Not bad, but I did leave a dagger for a reason," Ailith pointed out, glancing at the bayard as it fizzled with electricity. She arched an eyebrow and tossed it onto Pidge's bed. It shifted to its resting form. Any hard feelings vanished when Pidge saw what was in Ailith's arms; a fat wedge of cheese and a loaf of bread. Her mouth watered.

Ailith blinked slowly as the food vanished from her hands and Pidge took two large and eager bites.

"Don't choke," she quipped sarcastically, going to lean against the far wall between the beds. Pidge swallowed hard, turning to look at Ailith.

"You don't understand! I've been living off of food goo and Coran's Paladin Lunches for the past… I don't know how long. Either way, it's been a while since I've had real food!"

"…I see." Ailith muttered, rolling her eyes and playing with a knife that seemed to just appear in her hands.

"Anyway," Pidge swallowed the last morsel of food, wiping the crumbs from her cheeks. "What's the Hierarchy of Vampirism?"

_Ailith_

Ailith stared at Pidge, amused by her curiosity and a sharp mind. She shifted her position against the wall, still playing with her dagger.

"The Hierarchy of Vampirism is the order of the lesser breeds and higher breeds of Sanguinarius Vampirius," she began, watching Pidge narrow her eyes and lean forward. She had the child's full attention. "Bottom of the food chain are those who are merely infected by the disease that creates undeath. They tend to have little to no control over their… Urges, and suffer from delusions of grandeur. They think they are the top of the food chain, and they are horrifyingly wrong. Next link in the chain is Vampire Lords, which is a vampire turned by Molag Bal himself. He's… The father of vampires and a very powerful Daedric Prince. The next link up is a Daughter of Coldharbor. Which is a pureblood vampire, also turned by Molag Bal, which from what I've heard is a very dehumanizing experience that I won't go into detail about." Ailith paused to glare at the door as someone stumbled and ran into, she kept her lips tightly shut until they had stumbled away.

"The highest rank of vampirism outside of becoming a Daughter of Coldharbor is a Scion. Which is a vampire turned by the very first vampire herself, Lamae Bal. It's… An excruciating process. But there are some, although very few, she grants her blood gift too" Ailith sheathed her dagger and finally met Pidge's widened eyes. Remembering the taste of Lamae's blood vividly, it had burned her tongue.

"And that was you?" Pidge asked, curiously. Ailith nodded curtly, letting the illusion spell fade away, her eyes burned in the dark.

"Yes, that would be where I fall in the scheme of things." She wondered for a moment why she was bothering to explain any of this. She shifted her stance again, this time drawing her Dwemer claymore and closing her eyes.

"You should sleep now, we have a long day ahead of us," she told Pidge quietly, the small girl flopped down on the bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

The night was quiet aside from the howling blizzard outside, Ailith opened her eyes every so often and glared at the door. A few hours before dawn, the handle rattled softly as someone tried to pick the lock. Ailith growled, stepping into the middle of the room and holding her sword up, ready to impale whoever came through. Pidge glanced between her and the door with wide, frightened eyes. She adjusted her grip on her claymore. After a moment, the rattling stopped and soft footsteps went to the room next door. Ailith moved to the door, opening it silently and listening, a soft click and the other door swung open. She heard a soft cry, Ailith gave Pidge a sharp look before slipping out and closing the door. She moved into the doorway of the neighboring room, there was a wry Breton man, holding a blade and tossing it from hand to hand as the lady lute player trembled in the corner.

Ailith tapped his shoulder lightly, he whipped around, surprised. Her fist cracked his jaw and knocked him unconscious. Ailith nodded at the frightened woman, grabbed him by the foot and dragged him out. She dumped him unceremoniously outside in a snowdrift after quietly stabbing him below the fifth rib. She promptly returned to Pidge's room, closing the door and resuming her position against the wall. Pidge looked relieved and slept soundly the rest of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: So chapter four is here. Hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> So most of TheCrookedQueens OCs have all been introduced:
> 
> Kisibhi: A khajit mage who saved Shiro and found Keith.
> 
> Ailith: A nord, vampire assassin. She's with Pidge right now.
> 
> Hildegarde: A werewolf and member of the companions. Found (and almost ate) Hunk and Lance.
> 
> I thank you for your support! You're awesome!


	5. Chapter 5

_Kisibhi_

The early morning sunlight pulled Kisibhi from her sleep. She stayed still, with her eyes closed, a soft purr rattling in her chest. She was resting on something soft, and warm. The air was filled with the smell of moon sugar and sunlight. She inhaled deeply; there was moon sugar by her lips. Kisibhi flicked her tongue out, lapping up the sweet grains and sighing deeply. She hadn't felt this relaxed in what must have been years; someone was running their fingers through her mane. Kisibhi purred louder, nuzzling whatever she was on happily. She could hear the steady thump of a heartbeat, the hand buried in her mane scratched her behind the ears and drifted up to play with her earrings softly. She happily lapped up a little more of the precious moon sugar for a moment. Kisibhi frowned softly; she recognized the smell of the cave. It was one she had used before, but how had she gotten….

The memories from the night before rushed back and Kisibhi sat bolt upright, horrified.

She had been resting on the black kitten's chest, the hand belonged to Shiro. And the moon sugar was… Well, the sigil still painted onto his chest. Kisibhi swore, leaping to her feet, hastily combing her fingers through her ruffled mane. She spotted the red kitten sitting against the wall, he looked caught between amusement and absolute horror. She spat over her shoulder, gagging. She thought she heard him chuckle a little while she spat repeatedly and tried to wipe her tongue off.

Mortified, Kisibhi tried to retreat deeper into the cave to reclaim the shreds of her dignity and gather some herbs to release Shiro from the effects of the moon sugar. A grip on her tail made her freeze, she turned and felt her stomach drop. Shiro held her tail and was staring up at her with pleading adoration. He tugged her tail lightly, silently begging her to come back. She normally would have punched him, but this was her fault, technically. Kisibhi huffed and sat down next him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and all but pulled into his lap, nuzzling her neck and burying his hand in her mane again. Kisibhi squeaked, scrambling and trying to get away. She caught the red kitten's eye, his jaw was hanging open and his cheeks had turned scarlet.

"This is not Kisibhi's doing!" she snapped, her fur standing on end, "Get the red herbs from the back of the cave. NOW!" he scrambled to follow her orders, leaving Kisibhi to handle the incredibly awkward situation she had just been thrown into. She tried to pry his arm from around her waist but it was made of metal. She yelped when he nuzzled her neck. She hooked her foot under her satchel's strap and yanking it over, she tried to rummage through it for something, anything, to get her out of his arms.

Naturally, she had nothing for this situation.

"HURRY UP!" Kisibhi snapped, the red kitten returned, looking like he was trying not to laugh. He handed her the herbs and helped her slip out of Shiro's arms. The red one had a hard time keeping him from grabbing her again. Kisibhi hastily ground the herbs and mixed them with a health potion, heating it from a flame in her palm. All the while dodging out of Shiro's reach, she hissed at him when he almost grabbed her again.

"Did you just hiss at him?" the red kitten asked, arching an eyebrow while struggling to hold Shiro at bay.

"Yes!" She spat, ears flattened as she counted the seconds until she could force the mixture down his throat and balance the effects of the moon sugar in his system. Just as she looked up to tell him to drink it, he broke free of the red kitten and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her off her feet. Kisibhi yelped, nearly spilling the bowl and hissing when Shiro nuzzled her again.

"STOP! Put Kisibhi down! Now!" she ordered, glaring at the red armored boy. He sighed, rubbing his face. Shiro mumbled something she couldn't understand.

"I'm sorry, Shiro's bigger than me," he pointed out, she huffed and thrust the bowl at him to take.

"This one will do it herself," she grumbled, he took the bowl and Kisibhi struggled to try and force her way out of his arms.

"Soft…" Shiro murmured, the fur on her shoulders stood on end and she spluttered something in her native tongue.

_'Khenarthi he is strong,'_ she thought, wiggling and writhing to try and escape. Suddenly, he dropped her. She landed in a heap on the floor, Shiro was batting the red boy's hands away, laughing. The red-armored boy wrapped his arms around him, pinning Shiro's arms to his sides and holding him back relatively well.

"Oh, now you decide to help." She sighed, grabbing the bowl from the floor before it got spilled and pressed it against Shiro's mouth, he looked surprised but drank the contents anyway. He choked on the taste but swallowed it all. Kisibhi tossed the empty bowl aside, taking a few steps back and trying to comb her fur back into place, muttering unhappily in Ta'Agra, and trying to fix her tangled mane. She glanced back in time to see the cloudy look in Shiro's eye fade and be replaced by horror. His face turned scarlet and he looked mortified.

"I…erm…Keith…Hi…" Shiro cleared his throat, looking anywhere but at them. Keith had let go and backed up a little, the expression on his face was priceless. Kisibhi smirked, adjusting her belt and smoothing out her tail.

"Shiro," Keith said, staring at the other boy.

"What?" Shiro muttered, finally looking at Keith, who silently held Shiro's shirt up. Shiro's eyes went wide and he looked down at his bare chest. He swore, brushing the remaining moon sugar off of his chest and snatched the shirt out of Keith's outstretched hand, struggling to pull it on properly in his haste and embarrassment.

"…I could have lived with this, now not so much," he muttered, his face turning an even darker shade of red. Kisibhi fought back a laugh, she had never seen anyone look so uncomfortable. Keith half smiled, though he still looked a little uncomfortable as well. Kisibhi cleared her throat slightly, checking her earrings and wiggling her whiskers.

"The rest of your armor is by the wall if you want it," Keith stated, after clearing his throat and crossing his arms. Kisibhi could tell he was fighting back a full grin at Shiro's embarrassment.

"Let's never speak of this again, yes?" she said finally, Shiro's face burned scarlet again and he stared at the floor. Keith gave him a wicked grin, a familiar mischievous glint in his eyes.

_'Kisibhi will definitely hear of this again,'_ she sighed a little, but rolled her shoulders back, breathing deeply. She frowned a little, parting her jaw and scenting the air. She could smell pines, and moon sugar, the ash in the fire…

_'Galra?'_ Kisibhi narrowed her eyes at them, tilting her head slightly. It wasn't coming from Shiro, she would have picked it up earlier if it was. It was coming from Keith. She glared at him, growling a little. Keith glanced warily at Shiro, who had also tensed when she growled.

"What?" Keith demanded, shifting his weight under her burning gaze.

"You smell like Galra," Kisibhi said simply, kicking her staff into her hand in case one of them decided to attack her. Shiro flinched and moved closer to Keith, frowning and Kisibhi took a few steps back, ready to defend herself. The last time she had smelled live Galra, she had been forcing them to rot, frying them with lightning, and crushing their skulls with her staff, and then forcing them to attack each other. Something wasn't right… They both looked surprised and scared, plus they hadn't tried to skin her yet.

"Kisibhi has a very good nose. She can smell it on you, why do you smell like the angry purple elves?" she asked, tilting her head but not relaxing yet.

"I… I don't know. I don't know what you're even talking about," Keith gave Shiro a confused look, Shiro shrugged helplessly.

"Did Zarkon do something?" Shiro asked quietly, Keith shook his head and they exchanged another nervous look before finally making eye contact with her again. Kisibhi flicked her ear, watching both of them carefully. Shiro's arm glowed slightly, and Keith slipped his hand into his pocket, she guessed he had some sort of dagger and now they were waiting to see if she was going to attack them.

"Don't," she told them, sheathing her staff and holding her hands up, "Kisibhi won't harm the kittens. She was merely wondering why she smelled Galra," she kept her voice calm and shrugged slightly. They both relaxed a little.

"Wait, what did you just call us?" Shiro demanded, crossing his arms.

"She's been calling me 'red kitten' for twelve varga, don't worry about it," Keith whispered in response, grinning a little at Shiro's indignation. Kisibhi grinned, kneeling by her satchel and pulling out some strips of jerky. She tossed them, and her only water skin, at the boys. They looked at it a little warily.

"It's food, not poison," she pointed out, they started to eat, a little hesitant at first. But when they didn't immediately start dying they ate more eagerly. Kisibhi watched Keith from the corner of her eye, he had no purple skin or fuzz. He looked like a Nord but somehow smelled like Galra. She couldn't fathom how that worked.

"WAIT! How do you know who the Galra are?" Shiro demanded, almost dropping his jerky. Kisibhi chuckled when Keith froze, his brow furrowed as he realized what she had said.

"They invaded Nirn eight years ago, they wanted to hold the people as slaves. We were… Disinclined to acquiesce their request. So we fought instead. And Kisibhi taught them what pain means. When they left, the Orsimer mounted their heads on pikes surrounding the strongholds. And this one helped burn the remainder of the bodies," she explained a little offhandedly as she poked through her satchel, finding a piece of dried fruit and gnawing on it. She glanced up at them, Shiro looked impressed and unnerved.

"Yeah. I saw that." Keith muttered darkly, crossing his arms. Shiro gave him a bewildered look.

"You what?" she almost felt sorry for him, although a glint of excitement had entered his eye.

"They came, we slaughtered them. They will probably come back, but when they do, we will just slaughter them again," Kisibhi shrugged, Shiro swallowed hard, he looked lost in thought. She ate in silence, letting it all sink in.

_Shiro_

It took a few dobashes for Shiro to process what the quiznack had happened. All he could remember after he and Black crashed was his side being on fire and something sweet in his mouth.

He rubbed his temples, sighing. His head felt like someone had cracked it open, the pulsing pain was making it very difficult not to lay back down and pass out. The only time he remembers feeling a headache this bad was when he compound fractured his femur in a biking accident when he was sixteen. The concussion was almost worse than the break, three months of medical leave from the Garrison later and more morphine than humanly possible, he was back and still the top pilot.

Shiro glanced at Keith, the Red Paladin looked largely unharmed but was still looking at the furry cat lady who looked like a black tiger. She looked only half as embarrassed than him at what had transpired that morning.

Speaking of...Shiro made a mental note to make Keith swear never to bring it up again.

Not to mention Kisibhi's story of the planet chasing the Galra off. He'd never heard of something like that ever happening. When had the Galra ever been unable to take a planet? He hastily got to his feet.

"Shiro?" Keith prompted, concerned, Shiro waved him off a little.

"Just… Give me a minute, Keith. Okay?" he trudged to the front of the cave, trying to gather his thoughts and somehow make his head stop pounding. Parts of Kisibhi's story weren't adding up… The Galra never gave up and retreated, if they failed once they would definitely be back. Probably with triple the troops. So these inhabitants were either unaware of this or were cocky enough to think it was a one time deal. They needed to be prepared-

Shiro gasped and scrunched his eyes shut, pressing his palms into his eyes as the throbbing escalated into a blindingly sharp pain.

_Shiro opened his eyes, sitting bolt upright. Whipping his head to the right and left, looking around rapidly. He was surrounded by crystal, it was all his surroundings were made of. Looking up, he saw endless walls of pink, blue, and white crystals. There had to be a ceiling, but it was all so blended together he couldn't tell. There seemed to be endless paths leading into a massive crystal labyrinth. Aside from his confusion, everything was calm and quiet. Eerily so._

' _Is this heaven? It feels… too wrong to be heaven…' he thought he did feel something familiar though. Which didn't make a ton of sense since he'd never been in this odd crystal place. He got to his feet, touching the walls lightly, they were warm. A chill went down his spine, a soft but insistent pressure built in his head. Something he'd only felt once before._

_Seeing through the Black Lion's eyes._

" _Paladin," he jumped, he had never heard Black with words before, usually, it was only images and feelings! "My Paladin,"_

" _Black?" he asked, a little hesitantly, looking around and wondering if he would see her._

" _You must prepare, our bond is steady but my former Paladin will stop at nothing to destroy you" Black warned him, he could feel her urgency._

" _Zarkon…" he gritted his teeth, hands curling into fists. "Allura… Why didn't you tell me?"_

" _You must prepare for battle, he will come," Black repeated, a tone of insistence in her voice._

" _Black, how? He… He is stronger, he took you away from me" Shiro whispered, sharp pain in his chest. Black reached out again, he felt a calm reassurance, trust, and hope._

" _He lost my trust. He is not my Paladin. You are." Black replied firmly, Shiro sighed._

" _What do I need to do?" He asked calmly, crossing his arms. He understood now, and he was grateful for it._

" _Training will await you and the other Paladin's. But for now, I only ask for your trust. This planet is dangerous, you will need to keep your guard up" she told him just as calmly, he felt a warmth in his chest. Before he could ask her anything else, the crystal world imploded in a flash of white._

"Shiro?"

He blinked a few times, snapping out of his flashback. Keith and Kisibhi had joined him by the entrance. She had her staff and bag packed, Keith was armed again and ready.

"Are you okay? I called you, like, five times" Keith frowned, a worried look on his face.

"I'm fine, did I miss something?" Shiro asked, trying to play off his racing pulse.

"No, Kisibhi is going to take us to where you crashed. Red just got there, they are waiting for us" Keith explained, Kisibhi was checking outside, she looked tense.

"Great" he nodded in approval "We can use them to try and track the others, or at least figure out if they landed on this planet" he paused, it occurred quite suddenly to him that he wasn't sure what planet they were even on. He remembered little to nothing between crashing and waking up.

"Follow Kisibhi, she will lead you to them" she smiled over her shoulder, already jogging down what looked like an animal path down the mountain.

As they descended, Shiro could make out windswept plains, but no signs of civilization. But he also didn't know how these… Orsimer folk lived, they could be nomads for all he knew. Or dwell underground like the Balmerians. Soon enough, he could see through the forest enough to pick out the decimated crash site.

Just like Keith said, Red was there and so was Black, both appeared to be recovered from battle and were sitting in their resting positions, particle barriers up.

"Cousins!" Kisibhi cried happily, the lions tilted their heads towards them. Feelings of relief flooded Shiro's being, making him feel a little giddy. Although he couldn't remember much of what had happened, it must have been worse then he thought. Haggar's wound had caused him to pass out before they even hit the ground, which is what jostled him enough to wake him up so he could drag himself to Black's paw. It was in bits and pieces, but he remembered feeling certain he was going to die.

"Cousins?" Keith repeated, Shiro blinked, did… did she just say, cousins? Before he could ask her about it, she grabbed his arm and dragged him forward.

"Kisibhi saved the black kitten, just like she said!" if Black had been a flesh lion, Shiro had a feeling she would be nuzzling him like crazy. He could feel her purring through their bond, making the hair on his arm stand up.

"The cousins are pleased," she whispered to him, he couldn't suppress a smile.

"Wait, you can talk to them?" Keith asked from behind them, sounding as shocked as Shiro. "You can talk to the lions?"

"Metal or not, they are khajit, like Kisibhi" she replied, smiling up at them in an almost adoring manner.

"Khajit? So there's more than one race on this planet?" Shiro asked they'd seen multiple species inhabit a planet before, but not often. Kisibhi frowned at them, looking almost offended.

"There are many species on Nirn. Altmer, Bosmer, Khajit, Argonian, Imperial, Dunmer, Nord, Redguard, Bretons, and Orsimer" she pointed out, arching an eyebrow at them. Shiro held up his hands.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you, we just haven't been to a planet with more than one people in a long time," he told her, Kisibhi flicked her ear and shrugged.

"This one won't hold it against you," she said offhandedly, he was a little surprised at how easily she let it pass. She ran a hand through her white mane, ruffling her fur and sighing.

"Let's take off and find the others" Keith was already halfway to Red, who had let her barrier down and was already bending down to admit him. "With any luck, they landed on this planet" Shiro nodded and was about to lower Black's shields when Kisibhi spoke up.

"Take off?"

"Yeah" he replied "Our lions can fly" he smiled at her, she glanced over at the lions.

"You want to fly? Kisibhi would highly discourage that" she told him, crossing her arms, her ears flat against her head. Shiro frowned at her.

"Why?" he asked as she glanced at the sky nervously.

"Dragons," she said simply, shrugging like what she said wasn't the most bizarre thing he had ever heard. But he wasn't surprised at this point.

"DRAGONS?" Keith shouted, "Your kidding, right?" Kisibhi opened her mouth to respond when a distant roar echoed across the plains. It was unlike anything he had heard before.

"No. Kisibhi is not joking about the winged devils" she replied in a deadly serious tone.

"Alright, no flying" Shiro agreed, he didn't like how close that roar sounded, and from her tone, dragons weren't friendly here. If they had the other three lions, he wouldn't mind risking it. Not that he doubted his and Keith's teamwork, but this was a foe they had never encountered and they had little to no information. Now the only problem was that, unlike Green, Black and Red couldn't turn invisible and were essentially exposed.

"Is there anything we can do to hide them, at least?" Keith asked Kisibhi ruffled her mane again.

"This one _can_ do something but... It's Oblivion magic," she told them slowly, in a quiet voice. Shiro stared at her, confused. He had no idea what 'Oblivion magic' was, and neither did Keith from the look on his face. And now he knew he was probably missing something important while he was knocked out, it wasn't like Keith to ask a random person for help. Particularly when it involved the lions. Kisibhi appeared to have somehow gained his trust very quickly, and if Keith trusted her, so could he.

"What are you going to do?" he asked, intrigued.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: And cut! Sorry to stop there but... where's the fun in that otherwise?!
> 
> Anyway, nothing too crazy happened this chapter, but apparently, when Shiro is high, he gets really cuddly. HA!
> 
> Also, if anyone was confused about the conversation with the Black Lion, that was when Shiro's soul was in the soul gem (which will play a BIG role later on just so you know!)
> 
> Please comment and review, I'd really appreciate it!


	6. Chapter 6

_Hunk_

Hunk was honestly surprised to wake up in one piece when he opened his eyes. Oh sure, he'd enjoyed the hospitality of plenty of other werewolves...Okay, he hadn't, but that was beside the point. After Hildegarde showed them where they could sleep, which consisted of multiple beds and shelves, and a few barrels of… apples? It took him and Lance another hour to be able to relax enough to fall asleep.

It was a long night for Hunk, whose eyes snapped open at the barest creak of floorboards, half expecting to see Hildegarde leaning over him ready for a midnight snack.

It must've been around 2 am when heavy thumping started on the roof. It sounded like multiple large objects were landing on the roof.

"It is just branches, Hunk," Lance tried to reassure him, Hunk sat bolt upright, staring at the ceiling. As the sound of many feet started moving around. He gave Lance a terrified look and saw Hildegarde slowly walk in, following the sound of one set. Wolfish eyes on the ceiling, and long curly hair down her back. Her mace was in one hand and her shield. She met Hunk's gaze.

"Frost spiders," she told him quietly, she left the room and they heard the door to the raised porch open.

"ALRIGHT YOU WEBBY SLATTERNS, COME GET ME!" she howled, the air was suddenly filled with blood-chilling clicking and the skittering of several sets of eight feet went towards her voice.

They raced to the window and saw Hildegarde, laughing maniacally as horse sized spiders crawled down the house towards her. Lance's mouth was opened in a silent scream. Hunk was trying not to soil his pants as he watched her give a battle cry and charge the spiders, bodily slamming one away with her shield. They watched in silence as she used her shield more then her mace to bash them to pieces, green ichor getting everywhere. Lance pulled out his bayard suddenly and raced out.

"LANCE!" Hunk shrieked, scrambling after him when he joined him on the porch, the sharpshooter Paladin was firing at a spider coming at Hilde from behind while she was occupied with two in front of her. Hunk pulled out his canon and blasted one to bits in front of her while she finished off the other and Lance took out the one behind her. She looked up at them and grinned, ichor splattered across her face. Hildegarde joined them on the deck, wiping her face.

"WHY ARE THE SPIDERS THAT BIG?" Lance demanded in a high pitched voice, Hildegarde stared at him for a moment, smirking.

"Those weren't even half the size of an adult," she told him casually "They are merely an inconvenience, although… Their bite does kill," she ushered them back inside and bolted the door. Lance looked like he wanted to go back to the bottom of the lake with Blue and never return. Hunk's knees were still shaking.

"What… what do you mean that they… those weren't...horse sized…" Lance spluttered, white as a sheet. Hildegarde patted his shoulder roughly and walked down the stairs to the hearth. Lance mutely went back to his bed, crawled in, and hid under the blankets.

Hunk didn't sleep a wink.

When the sun finally filtered through the window, Hunk's eyes stung and were bloodshot. Lance peaked his head out, he looked like he had at least slept a little better then Hunk. He didn't have the same kind of bags under his eyes.

"Did you sleep at all?" the blue paladin asked, Hunk shook his head, yawning and rubbing his eyes.

"Nope, not really. I mean, who can sleep within a house inhabited by a drunk werewolf with giant spiders crawling all over it?" Hunk asked. Lance looked thoughtful before nodding in agreement.

"Yeah...That does make it difficult to sleep," they both changed back into their armor and quietly walked around the corner to where Hildegarde's bed was. It was empty and unkept. Hunk felt his pulse quicken.

'Did a spider get in and eat her?' he wondered, terrified. He avoided looking at the ceiling, not wanting to see her corpse wrapped in spider webs.

"Must be an early riser," Lance suggested in a hesitant voice. Hunk glanced at him and could see the same fear reflected in his eyes. They slowly went down the stairs, listening hard, Lance almost tripped over Hildegarde's foot. She was out cold on her back, mumbling in her sleep. Apparently, she was a light sleeper, because when Hunk carefully nudged her foot, she sat bolt upright so fast they jumped back.

"BREAKFAST!" she tore off to the kitchen at an inhuman speed. Hunk's stomach growled as saliva filled his mouth. She scared him to death but at least they could agree on one thing. They followed her and stood, awestruck, in her kitchen and pantry. It certainly wasn't short of food. Almost all the surfaces were covered in loaves of bread, cheeses, meats, and baked goods like berry pies. She had dried meats and herbs, barrels filled with fruit and vegetables. Some he recognized and others not so much. Either way, it smelled amazing.

Hildegarde caught his eye, grinning as he blushed sheepishly from staring at her pies, she shoved three of them into his arms.

"Eat up, big guy, I've got plenty more where that came from," she laughed, Hunk plopped down at the table, smiling from ear to ear and began shoveling the fruity contents into his mouth. It wasn't quite razzleberry, the berries had a different kind of zing, but it was still hands down the best breakfast he'd had in ages.

Hunk finally looked up from his pie at Lance, he didn't have any food in front of him.

"You're not eating?" Hunk demanded around a mouthful of pie, mildly horrified.

"I was… But she wouldn't-" an apple smacked him in the head and interrupted him, Lance rubbed the spot grumpily. He picked the now bruised apple up and nibbled on it.

"We have survived months off of food goo and Coran's 'Paladin lunches' and all you decide to eat is an apple?" Hunk exclaimed, looking increasingly horrified and shocked.

"I was just going to start with that, I didn't know what else I-" before Lance could finish, Hildegarde slammed a plate stacked high with what was possibly plantains, smothered in caramel sauce, she put a huge dollop of cream on top to complete the masterpiece.

"There, start with _that_!" she practically ordered, Lance looked amused but happily obliged and began wolfing down the plantains. Hildegarde vanished for several long moments out the front door before eventually coming back with a bucket filled with a thick white liquid which she put over the fire.

"You have milk? And Cream?" Hunk asked, amazed. Hilde looked at him, tilting her head.

"I'm not a heathen, of course, I do," she told him, rolling her eyes.

"Do you have whipped cream, by chance?" he inquired eagerly as his mind started making ideas, Hilde raised an eyebrow questioningly at him. Hunk bit his lip as he tried to figure out how to explain.

"It's cream, but whipped,"

"You...Lash your cream?" she asked incredulously, he could see her beginning to question her choices in letting them into her home.

"No! Not that kind of whipping!" Lance protested, swallowing a mouthful. Hildegarde's lips twitched into a half smile, glancing between them but clearly still lost.

"You...How about I see if I can make some?" Hunk suggested, Hilde waved a hand to show her consent and went back to watching the milk heat up and begin to boil. Hunk zoomed to the kitchen. He found a bowl of cream surrounded by odd jagged ice like shards that emitted cold. He washed his hands and sampled it with a spoon.

"Needs sugar!" he rummaged through the pantry until he found a crystally white substance and tasted it, it was definitely sugar. He grabbed the closest thing to a whisk he could find and rolled his shoulders. "Alright blender arms, don't fail me now!"

10 minutes later, he emerged from the kitchen triumphantly, arms numb and sore, but a bowl almost overflowing with soft, fluffy cream. He set it on the table, beaming. Hilde leaned across the table, looking at it curiously. She stared at it like it was a new and interesting creature before promptly shoving her hand into it and cramming a clump into her mouth. Her eyes went wide, and if her mouth wasn't so full, Hunk could imagine she'd have a wide smile on her face.

"I like this!" she exclaimed, cramming another handful into her mouth and reaching for another.

"Hey!" Hunk laughed, pulling the bowl away "we want some too!" he plopped some on his remaining pie, another pie was shoved at him by Hilde and he happily obliged and dolloped cream on that one too.

"Hey Hunk, put some on my hand," Lance said suddenly, holding his right-hand palm down. Hunk caught the mischievous glint in his eye and smirked as he complied. Hildegarde watched him fascinatedly as he hit the crook of his arm, snapping his hand up and sending the whipped cream high in the air...and straight into his hair. Hunk roared with laughter while Lance tried to wipe it off grumpily.

"That was supposed to go in my mouth, but you can't practice with food goo,"

"I want to try!" Hilde held out her hand eagerly, Hunk shrugged and dolloped some on her hand. She expertly chopped down on the crook of her arm, sending the whipped cream flying. She threw herself backward out of her chair with more ferocity than a dog chasing after its favorite toy and caught it in her mouth.

"Nice!" Hunk whooped, clapping. Lance cheered, all bitterness gone from his flop.

The whipped cream didn't last long after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: So this was a short, more filler fun chapter. We had a blast with these scenes and hope you all enjoy them.


	7. Chapter 8: Return of the Gladiator

_Allura_

Allura could barely hear Coran as all the alarms went off and they spiraled out of control through the wormhole. She doubted she'd ever hear properly again, they were so loud.

"Princess, try to find some sort of exit point!" Coran called rapidly pressing and tugging on controls to try to keep the ship stable. Allura was losing hope when she saw the ship catch a point they could exit it.

"I got it!" she yelled, they ripped out of the black hole and crashed. Skidding to a halt at the base of a mountain. Allura slowly stood, stiff but otherwise unharmed. Coran was holding his head in his hands.

"Are you alright?" Allura asked her voice was hoarse from screaming while they plummeted to whatever planet they crashed on, walking over to him. Coran got to his feet after breathing deeply.

"How is it that number five put it? 'Just peachy'," Coran replied, smiling reassuringly at her. Allura smiled back hesitantly as she looked around. All systems appeared to be down. Coran read the look on her face before she had time to say anything.

"Yes, well. It would seem that the Castleship's systems are down," he agreed, he seemed to have lost note of his cheerfulness. Allura smiled wryly after checking the emergency power, it was down too.

"Well, we might as well find out where we landed," Allura sighed, the space mice squeaked at her and she smiled, "Stay on the ship, keep it safe," she and Coran exited quickly and were immediately hit with ash-filled air that burned their throats and sweltering heat. Allura could smell distant flowers and ice as well.

"Fascinating…" Coran mused, she could almost see his mind going a million miles a varga. She took the time to look past the ship, they appeared to be on a coast or some sort of island. Although, ashen wasteland might've been a more accurate description. Almost everything was covered in a thick layer of ash, and they could see a mountain spewing the grey clouds in the distance. The rocks had red veins that pulsed light.

Mixed with the heat and humidity, the ash was suffocating.

"Let's head that way," Allura suggested, taking the lead towards a small path.

"Jolly good," Coran said cheerfully, he kept close by her. The paths had odd scrubs and ferns forcing their way from the rocks. As they rounded a bend, they saw that they were above a port city with very interesting architecture.

"Oh Princess, that is absolutely-" Allura never got to find out what Coran was going to say because he interrupted himself by screaming. Allura spun around, the sight that met her drew a scream from her throat as well. Humanoid creatures, with deformed faces and bodies, were slowly rising from the ash and sand. They had pits in their chests that glowed oddly and promptly roared at them.

"RUN!" Coran howled, grabbing Allura's arm as they sprinted down the hill. The creatures followed, howling and screeching. Another shout joined the frenzy, Allura looked to her left and saw a very short woman with violet hair sprinting towards them. She ripped a katana from its sheath while simultaneously blasted one of the creatures apart with several ice spikes.

"Keep running, you fools!" she yelled at them, neither of them had the breath to point out they hadn't even slowed down. She ran beside them, throwing ice and frost back at the creatures. The horde seemed to be growing. The elf woman swore colorfully and spun on her heel. The tattoo down her arm lit up with green light.

"Uller! KILL!" she screamed, a massive clanmurel erupted from her arm roaring with fury and tore in the creatures, the elf by its side wielding magic and steel. The sound of heavy footsteps caught their attention and Allura looked to see at least fifty armored warriors rushing towards the battle. Coran yanked Allura's arm and they ran the rest of the way to the gates and stopped, doubling over and trying to catch their breath.

Not too long after, the warriors crested the hill with the short elf woman and her clanmurel. There were only twenty-seven warriors left.

The guards trudged past them, whispering about retrieving and identifying the dead, a few merely wept as they passed. The short woman stopped by them, sheathing her sword. After a moment, her clanmurel dissolved into green light and flowed back into her tattoo which had faded, making it stark and vivid again.

"What in Oblivion were you doing?" she demanded furiously, she was caked in soot. It was crumbling off her leathers whenever she moved. She was so short she had to look up at Allura, who proceeded to give her an offended look.

"Running for our lives, what did it look like we were doing?" Allura snapped back, despite Coran's cautious hand on her back. The elf shook her head and looked exasperated.

"I know all who have touched the soils and winds of Nirn. None of that magic flows through you, you aren't from here, so who are you and why are you on Nirn?" she hissed in a low, worried voice. She crossed her arms and jutted out a hip. Allura glanced at Coran, he was giving the elf woman his entire attention and looked suddenly very tense.

"Nirn? Did you say Nirn?" he asked quietly, his tone uncharacteristically somber. The elf nodded and Coran pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Nirn? Coran, what's wrong? What's Nirn?" Allura asked urgently, a bad feeling in her gut. The elf closed her eyes and sighed.

"Nirn is the rumored Untouchable. From what I know, not even the Galra Empire can control it," Coran explained, looking frazzled. Allura's blood went cold.

"Alrighty, enough chit chat. This island has problems. Big ones. I highly recommend you get as far away as possible. I can secure you a ship that can take you to Windhelm, but you're on your own from there," she pushed past them, Allura wanted to protest but Coran was already following her. Sighing, she hurried after them.

The elf led them to a ship empty of its crew and opened a large crate.

"Get in, don't make a sound. When the boat docks, run as fast as you can into the city," she instructed, helping them inside the crate, "If you ever need me, speak 'Muirheil' to the trees. I'll hear," with that she closed the lid and resecured the ropes. Allura and Coran's world became dark.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: So, we finally know where Coran and Allura are at. Coran seems to at least have heard of Nirn, but why is it 'Untouchable'?
> 
> Thank you for the patience and hope you enjoyed it!


	8. Chapter 8

_Allura_

Allura could barely hear Coran as all the alarms went off and they spiraled out of control through the wormhole. She doubted she'd ever hear properly again, they were so loud.

"Princess, try to find some sort of exit point!" Coran called rapidly pressing and tugging on controls to try to keep the ship stable. Allura was losing hope when she saw the ship catch a point they could exit it.

"I got it!" she yelled, they ripped out of the black hole and crashed. Skidding to a halt at the base of a mountain. Allura slowly stood, stiff but otherwise unharmed. Coran was holding his head in his hands.

"Are you alright?" Allura asked her voice was hoarse from screaming while they plummeted to whatever planet they crashed on, walking over to him. Coran got to his feet after breathing deeply.

"How is it that number five put it? 'Just peachy'," Coran replied, smiling reassuringly at her. Allura smiled back hesitantly as she looked around. All systems appeared to be down. Coran read the look on her face before she had time to say anything.

"Yes, well. It would seem that the Castleship's systems are down," he agreed, he seemed to have lost note of his cheerfulness. Allura smiled wryly after checking the emergency power, it was down too.

"Well, we might as well find out where we landed," Allura sighed, the space mice squeaked at her and she smiled, "Stay on the ship, keep it safe," she and Coran exited quickly and were immediately hit with ash-filled air that burned their throats and sweltering heat. Allura could smell distant flowers and ice as well.

"Fascinating…" Coran mused, she could almost see his mind going a million miles a varga. She took the time to look past the ship, they appeared to be on a coast or some sort of island. Although, ashen wasteland might've been a more accurate description. Almost everything was covered in a thick layer of ash, and they could see a mountain spewing the grey clouds in the distance. The rocks had red veins that pulsed light.

Mixed with the heat and humidity, the ash was suffocating.

"Let's head that way," Allura suggested, taking the lead towards a small path.

"Jolly good," Coran said cheerfully, he kept close by her. The paths had odd scrubs and ferns forcing their way from the rocks. As they rounded a bend, they saw that they were above a port city with very interesting architecture.

"Oh Princess, that is absolutely-" Allura never got to find out what Coran was going to say because he interrupted himself by screaming. Allura spun around, the sight that met her drew a scream from her throat as well. Humanoid creatures, with deformed faces and bodies, were slowly rising from the ash and sand. They had pits in their chests that glowed oddly and promptly roared at them.

"RUN!" Coran howled, grabbing Allura's arm as they sprinted down the hill. The creatures followed, howling and screeching. Another shout joined the frenzy, Allura looked to her left and saw a very short woman with violet hair sprinting towards them. She ripped a katana from its sheath while simultaneously blasted one of the creatures apart with several ice spikes.

"Keep running, you fools!" she yelled at them, neither of them had the breath to point out they hadn't even slowed down. She ran beside them, throwing ice and frost back at the creatures. The horde seemed to be growing. The elf woman swore colorfully and spun on her heel. The tattoo down her arm lit up with green light.

"Uller! KILL!" she screamed, a massive clanmurel erupted from her arm roaring with fury and tore in the creatures, the elf by its side wielding magic and steel. The sound of heavy footsteps caught their attention and Allura looked to see at least fifty armored warriors rushing towards the battle. Coran yanked Allura's arm and they ran the rest of the way to the gates and stopped, doubling over and trying to catch their breath.

Not too long after, the warriors crested the hill with the short elf woman and her clanmurel. There were only twenty-seven warriors left.

The guards trudged past them, whispering about retrieving and identifying the dead, a few merely wept as they passed. The short woman stopped by them, sheathing her sword. After a moment, her clanmurel dissolved into green light and flowed back into her tattoo which had faded, making it stark and vivid again.

"What in Oblivion were you doing?" she demanded furiously, she was caked in soot. It was crumbling off her leathers whenever she moved. She was so short she had to look up at Allura, who proceeded to give her an offended look.

"Running for our lives, what did it look like we were doing?" Allura snapped back, despite Coran's cautious hand on her back. The elf shook her head and looked exasperated.

"I know all who have touched the soils and winds of Nirn. None of that magic flows through you, you aren't from here, so who are you and why are you on Nirn?" she hissed in a low, worried voice. She crossed her arms and jutted out a hip. Allura glanced at Coran, he was giving the elf woman his entire attention and looked suddenly very tense.

"Nirn? Did you say Nirn?" he asked quietly, his tone uncharacteristically somber. The elf nodded and Coran pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Nirn? Coran, what's wrong? What's Nirn?" Allura asked urgently, a bad feeling in her gut. The elf closed her eyes and sighed.

"Nirn is the rumored Untouchable. From what I know, not even the Galra Empire can control it," Coran explained, looking frazzled. Allura's blood went cold.

"Alrighty, enough chit chat. This island has problems. Big ones. I highly recommend you get as far away as possible. I can secure you a ship that can take you to Windhelm, but you're on your own from there," she pushed past them, Allura wanted to protest but Coran was already following her. Sighing, she hurried after them.

The elf led them to a ship empty of its crew and opened a large crate.

"Get in, don't make a sound. When the boat docks, run as fast as you can into the city," she instructed, helping them inside the crate, "If you ever need me, speak 'Muirheil' to the trees. I'll hear," with that she closed the lid and resecured the ropes. Allura and Coran's world became dark.

o~o

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: So, we finally know where Coran and Allura are at. Coran seems to at least have heard of Nirn, but why is it 'Untouchable'?
> 
> Thank you for the patience and hope you enjoyed it!


	9. Chapter 9

_Hildegarde_

Hilde sat back, smirking contently. There was whipped cream everywhere, but they were all much more relaxed now. Her face suddenly grew dark as she observed them.

"Lance, Hunk, we have a serious matter we need to discuss," her tone must have been more grave than she intended because she had their immediate attention, "I'm assuming you've never been to Nirn before, and on my honor, I can't leave you on your own. But I have business in Whiterun that I can't ignore, which means you have to come with me," she drummed her fingers on the oaken table thoughtfully, "And you can't be seen wearing… that."

"This is our Paladin armor!" Lance protested, Hunk also looked offended. Hilde rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Yes, you mentioned that more than once, but you stick out like an Argonian in a room full of Nords!" she pointed out as smoothly as she could, they looked utterly lost with her analogy, "Look, I have an idea but it requires cooperating with me," she watched them exchange skeptical looks.

"Okay?" Lance said it more as a question, but Hilde leaped to her feet anyway and gestured for them to follow her. She bounded to the other room and ripped open the cellar, grinning wolfishly at them before leaping down without using the ladder. Lance and Hunk followed, she watched their faces gleefully as she lit the torches revealing an entire cellar filled with weapons and armor. Leather, steel plate, chainmail, longswords, broadswords, morningstar's, maces, shields…

"You have a lot of time on your hands," Hunk breathed, spotting her forge and half treated leather, and various tools of the many crafts she seemed to entertain herself with. Hunk slipped past her to admire her different crossbow designs, the smelter smoldered in the corner.

"I do, I'm a restless sleeper. I baked last night instead so I wouldn't wake you while I tempered the metal," she explained cheerfully, picking through armor sets. Lance picked up a beautifully carved longbow and made a noise of appreciation. Hilde smiled softly

"I'm guessing your idea involves some of this stuff?" Hunk stated matter of factly.

"What gave it away?" Hilde replied sarcastically, grabbing some imperial mail and leather cuirasses. "Here, try this on," she shoved the armor into Lance's arms and dragged some steel armor out of the depths of a chest and handed it to Hunk. They both stripped off their Paladin armor and pulled on her creations. She helped them with the straps and buckles, ignoring Lance's suggestive wink when she yanked on his belt to make sure it was tight enough.

"This armor is actually really comfortable," Hunk admitted, Hildegarde laughed as she tugged and prodded at each piece to see how well it fit.

"Could use some adjustments," she muttered "Ill-fitted armor gets you killed around here," she yanked roughly on Lance's chest plate and ignored his pained protests.

"How long will that take?" Hunk inquired politely, Hilde rubbed her eyes.

"Your chest plate needs to be measured and adjusted to be wider for you, and Lance's shoulders aren't as mobile as they need to be. Maybe a day or two, at most," she said mostly to herself as she helped them out of the armor and dumped it on her work tables. They submitted quietly to her careful measurements, Lance winked at her again while she stepped in close to measure his shoulders and chest. She resisted the urge to sock him in the jaw and instead, wrote down his measurements on some parchment.

"Do you need any help with this?" Lance asked her seriously as she prepped her forge and opened the vents in the walls, allowing fresh, crisp air down into the cellar. The smoke being sucked out immediately.

"Probably not. Your welcome to read, eat, wrestle, or whatever you do for entertainment while I work. Just don't wander too far from the manor, and don't pick fights with any giants, trolls, bears, saber cats, wolves, frost spiders, or citizens. Stay close, and you'll be safe. Unless a dragon shows up, then I would suggest swimming to the bottom of the lake and hiding," she replied absentmindedly as she gathered her tools and started prepping the leather for adjustment.

"Frost spiders..." Lance shuddered convulsively, Hilde didn't even look up.

"Yep. Horse sized arachnids that eat men whole for fun and spit acid," she added loudly over the shearing noise as she cut some strips of leather.

"They are disgusting," Lance spat vehemently, Hildegarde laughed hard for a moment.

"Yes, they are," she agreed with glittering eyes "But they are surprisingly frail and easy to kill as long as you avoid the fangs and acid. Have a weapon and don't be stupid," she gestured at the ladder to quietly ask them to leave. They did, but their footsteps never left the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Finally an update on this fic. Sorry if the chapters are so short, but we're justs trying to get through exposition and get to the action which will be happening in a few chapters. Promise ;).


	10. Chapter 10

_Pidge_

Pidge yawned and stretched; she hadn't slept that well in a long time. She reached instinctively for her glasses, but her hand met something solid and... Leathery?

"Good morning to you too," Ailith greeted dryly, Pidge yelped and almost banged her head on the wall as she struggled to sit up.

"Where are my glasses?" Ailith produced the spectacles promptly, watched Pidge snatch them and put them on., "...So it wasn't all a really weirdly detailed nightmare…." she muttered to herself.

"A travesty, really," Pidge groaned at Ailith's sarcasm and flopped back on the bed miserably.

"So what now?" she grumbled, glancing up at the vampire. Ailith didn't seem bothered by her moodiness, if she didn't know better, she'd think the assassin thought it was funny.

"I've business in the College of Winterhold, we'll leave for Windhelm shortly after," Ailith replied coolly, sheathing her golden sword and shaking her hair back. It caught the light like a sheet of white gold.

"There's a College in this dump?" Pidge blurted out incredulously, this rundown town didn't look like it had anything to offer, much less a College.

"A school of magic," Ailith corrected as they head for the door, "similar to the Mages Guild."

"What's the Mages Guild?" Pidge asked eagerly, Ailith sighed heavily.

"Sithis grant me patience...We'll visit the Arcaneum," she muttered, Ailith provided a quick breakfast before they walked outside and were greeted by a massive black horse with burning red eyes.

"Shadowmere," Ailith breathed, resting her head against his. He made that little growl horses make and Ailith scratched his skin. Pidge blinked a few times, she had to crane her neck to look up at his head. He was by far, the most unnaturally large horse she'd ever seen.

"Are... all horses this big here?" she asked timidly, Ailith laughed.

"Shadowmere is... unique" the stallion head-butted her as she stroked his mane and Ailith couldn't have looked happier. Pidge eagerly, but cautiously, tiptoed and strained to reach his mane, running her fingers through his hair. She thought it would be coarse, but it was soft.

"Wait, don't vampires have, like, superspeed?" Pidge asked, suddenly wondering why a horse was even necessary.

"I have no idea what that means," Ailith replied simply, arching an eyebrow at Shadowmere as if to say 'She's been asking me this kinda crap for almost two days now, mate.'

Ailith led Pidge towards the eastern side of the small town, as they rounded the bend near the only general goods store, she gasped. There was a massive arch over a crumbling bridge that lead out across what was easily a several-hundred-foot drop to a large castle-like structure. There were no protective sidings or rails on the stone bridge, logically it shouldn't have even been standing still, Pidge looked down and hastily grabbed Ailith's hand. The stones were slick with ice, but the vampire was treading over it easily while Pidge felt as if her feet were going to shoot out from under her any second.

"Don't slip. It's a long way down," Ailith commented as she returned Pidge's grip and held her close. They reached a massive iron gate that swung open as they approached. Ailith pulled her along across the courtyard and inside. She wasn't even given much time to admire the structure as she was pulled down a spiral staircase and through a set of doors.

"Holy quiznack," Pidge breathed in awe, shelves filled with tomes reached for miles upward. Some of the books were casually floating around or rearranging themselves, shuffling and whispering parchment were the only sounds.

"Urag!" Ailith called as she crossed the chamber, Pidge scrambled after her, still gapping at the sheer size of the library. Behind a desk was a grumpy looking man dull green skin, hair shaved except for a ponytail sprouting white hair, tusks, and adorned in gold robes. His scowl seemed to be permanently etched into his stony face.

"You again," his voice was rough and deep, "What do you want?" Pidge was surprised to see how unfazed Ailith was, she actually smiled a little at his gruffness.

"I need the best tome you have on the Oblivion Crisis. And if you have it, one on Tamriel's basic history," she replied, already pulling out a large coin purse. Urag grumbled and glared at Pidge accusingly before he vanished behind a pillar.

"What? No! You're supposed to be in alphabetical order!... I don't CARE who you like being by better!" followed by the sounds of Urag wrestling several books back into their proper place "This is MY arcaneum, and YOU don't get to rearrange yourselves just because you want to!" Ailith was snickering as the old orc continued arguing with his books, a few of which followed him back to the counter rustling their pages angrily at him while he snapped back at them. He barely noticed Ailith drop the gold on the table before handing Pidge two massive tomes, they felt like they were at least 8 pounds each. Ailith hurriedly shooed her forward, and they left the library while Urag scolded his books for their choice in argumentative language.

'I'm gonna need a backpack…' Pidge thought as she struggled not to drop the massive tomes. She spotted a concise human (Human!) woman talking to two very tall golden elves. They wore black robes with golden designs. One male, the other female.

"Woah... they're tall," she commented offhandedly. Ailith must have heard her over the wind because her grip on Pidge's shoulder was getting painfully tight.

"Keep walking. Don't make eye contact," she hissed urgently, although she could have sworn she saw Ailith's scarlet eyes linger on the female elf who returned the gaze a bit longer than necessary. Pidge kept her head down and focused on not slipping, snowflakes falling and kissing the stones.

Another set of heavy doors brought them into a circular room with many decorative arches leading to smalling rooms each adorned with a bed, desks, and wardrobes. Several people of various forms, one was a cat, one had blue skin... All gave a combination of curious and frightened looks.

'Maybe this is the dormitories…' Pidge thought, averting her eyes. It was hard not to look at the interesting people, but harder not to look at the pretty crystals glittering on almost every surface. Ailith lead her to the only room with any sort of door, a thick tapestry was hanging over the entrance with runes glowing softly on it. Ailith pushed it aside and ushered her in.

This room had the most crystals by far, and sitting at the desk was an elf with dark blue skin. Her red hair was in a cute pixie cut, and her large eyes were a beautiful mix of pink and red. The woman was wearing silver and blue robes and momentarily seemed to panic, quill hovering over a tome more massive than any of Pidge's until her eyes settled on Ailith.

"Barenziah, what do you have for me?" Ailith asked warmly, smiling at the elven lady. Barenziah smiled back but glanced at Pidge questioningly. "This is my current charge, nothing to worry about, I swear"

"I'll be occupied" Pidge added hastily, plopping down in an extra chair with her books, setting one down and opening the one about the Oblivion Crisis. She figured Barenziah would be more comfortable if Pidge didn't pay attention to whatever they needed to discuss. She needn't have worried, they spoke a language she couldn't understand anyway. She flipped it open and stared in horror at the pages. She couldn't read whatever these symbols were.

"Ailith...?" Pidge cringed and gave the two an apologetic look and felt like an idiot for not even thinking about this. Allura and Coran always translated Altean literature if she couldn't, but she hadn't even thought about it. "I... can't... read any of this,"

Ailith blinked before slowly burying her face in her hand and sighing heavily.

"I can fix that," Barenziah giggled, giving Ailith an amused look before almost skipping over to her and booping her forehead. Pidge felt a warmth spread from Barenziah's finger that slowly enveloped her head, the most heat was around her eyes. Barenziah returned to her seat, and Pidge looked down, gaping as she could read the pages now.

"Thanks!" Pidge breathed excitedly, she wasn't entirely sure what Barenziah did, but it seemed the better option because Ailith just looked like she wanted to throw her out the window. She began eagerly reading about the Staff of Chaos. She was only able to pay half attention to what she was reading as her gaze kept drifting to the crystals.

"Hey... Sorry for interrupting again but... What are these?" Pidge asked, pointing to the crystals.

"Those are soul gems," Ailith replied bluntly, but she didn't seem bothered by the interruption.

"Are they decoration or…"

"No, they hold souls," Barenziah answered, "the energy can be used for enchantments, spells, and a few other... less legal... experiments I may or may not be working on."

"Would it be too far off to call the 'souls' quintessence?" PIdge asked curiously, carefully picking one up.

"I supposed you'd be on the right track with that term," Ailith responded carefully, glancing at Barenziah.

"Oh, cool, so they're like Balmeran crystals. Interesting," PIdge hummed, she placed the gem down and noticed Barenziah scowl at Ailith.

"What in Oblivion do you know about souls, madame undead? No. When we say souls, we mean the soul literally was torn out of a host and forced into the gem. The action is irreversible and VERY illegal if done on man or mer," she said point blank. Pidge's eyes widened, and she hastily went back to reading, feeling sickened.

Not to much time passed before Ailith tapped her shoulder to signal it was time to leave. Pidge gathered up her books, but before she could take a step, Barenziah yanked a long blue robe over her head that hid her armor and winked. Pidge grinned and followed Ailith.

When they reached the bottom of the bridge, Shadowmere was waiting. Pidge was surprised at how intelligent this horse was but delighted to see him all the same. Ailith took her books and packed them in the saddle bag before swinging Pidge up into Shadowmere's saddle and taking her place behind Pidge.

"Ever ridden a horse?" Ailith asked her with a mischievous giggle.

"Um... No, I-" Pidge shrieked and whooped as Shadowmere took off like a bullet at the barest shift of Ailith's hand. His hooves pounded on the cobblestones and Pidge couldn't help but laugh madly with glee as they tore through Winterhold like madmen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: A double update! WHAT? So this chapter was a little bit longer, so hope that satisfies everyone. The next chapter should be up by the end of the week too.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed. R&R!


	11. Chapter 11

_Kisibhi_

As the sun lowered gradually in the sky, Kisibhi finally motioned that they could slow the pace, her hair no longer stood on end. The forsworn must be further behind them now.

"Kisibhi, now that we've slowed up a bit why the fast pace?" Keith called, Red catching up to Black and walking shoulder to shoulder.

"Because there are Forsworn savages roam this area and murder unsuspecting travelers. This one would rather avoid tangling with them," Kisibhi answered honestly, surveying the surrounding forest carefully.

"And who are the Forsworn?" Keith inquired, frowning. Kisibhi grimaced.

"They worship the old gods. The daedra, they think they own the Reach. And maybe that is true, this one doesn't know, but killing without reason… They are trying to take the Reach back by force from the Nords. They don't care who gets in the way," Kisibhi answered darkly, ears flattening. She looked angrier than they had seen her before, she shook her head and sighed.

"Nords and Bretons?" Shiro questioned, wracking his memory to see if she had already explained this.

"Yes, they are among the races of man. Redguards, Bretons, Nords, and Imperials are all very much mortal. The elven races include the Bosmer, Dunmer, Altmer, and Orsimer people," Kisibhi explained in an amused tone, "they lead longer lives than the races of men. And although my people are Mer, we are more often called Beast folk, along with the Argonians."

"Orsimer?" Keith asked, "They're the ones with the big teeth and like putting heads on pikes, right?"

Shiro looked at Keith with slight horror on his face.

"Yes, they tend to have a variety of green and grey skin tones. This one once saw a more purple one then green," Kisibhi explained patiently "Why do you ask? Hasn't Kisibhi already told you about the other races?"

"Oh...well, we just haven't ever seen humans on other planets before," Keith shrugged, adjusting his helmet. Kisibhi stiffened slightly.

' _Other planets?'_ She thought, surprised, ' _well...they had to come from somewhere.'_

"Speaking of which, what's the name of this planet?" Shiro asked curiously.

"Nirn," Kisibhi said softly, looking around again. "You're lucky you met this one before any Forsworn...Well, except for Red Kitten, he met a grumpy clan orc," she chuckled a bit, and Keith scowled at her. Kisibhi grinned and sniffed the fresh air, relaxing a bit.

"Huh. What's your story, then?" Keith asked abruptly, she fell into a thoughtful silence.

"This one is a simple khajit, one of simple words and explanations. Preferably explanations that don't involve answering the guards' questions as to why Kisibhi was on the roof riding a guar naked," she giggled fondly "this one also likes her moonsugar."

"...Wait, you did what?!" Keith asked, trying to process what Kisibhi just said. Shiro looked back at her questioningly as well.

"Nevermind, that is a story for another time," Kisibhi waved a hand as if brushing away their questions, still smiling.

"If I asked why you were on a roof riding a...guar? Would you tell us?" Keith asked, grinning wickedly at her. Kisibhi rolled her eyes at him

"Truthfully? This one would have to tell the whole story, and some details ought to never be repeated," she answered delicately, wiggling her whiskers. "So, what are your stories, kittens?"

"We are Paladins of Voltron. We're trying to save the universe from Zarkon and his empire," Shiro explained, he paused for a moment, but Kisibhi just nodded.

"What is Voltron?" She asked curiously, he chuckled.

"There are five giant metal robots that form one larger robot, each has a Paladin," Keith explained, Kisibhi mulled the information over.

"...A giant dwarven centurion made of metal khajit's. Simple enough," she stated with a small shrug, her ears perked up. The fur on her shoulders and neck stood on end as she looked around. The forest had gone silent.

" _Shiro, stop!_ " She hissed, digging her claws into his shoulder. She gestured at Keith to stop as well, her eyes dilating. They sat silently near the cliff of a reach canyon as Kisibhi spun around on Black, scenting the air. Her tail fluffed up to almost triple its size. Forest on one side and a cliff on the other. It made her nervous.

"What's wrong?" Keith breathed, reaching slowly for his bayard. Black and Red had both tensed.

"The birds. They no longer sing," Kisibhi replied quietly as she readied her staff. Keith drew his sword, Black growled, and Shiro's arm began to glow softly.

A sharp whistle caught her attention, and she threw up a ward in time to block the ice spike. The force of the blow knocked her off Black, landing hard on her back. She wheezed, trying to catch her breath back. Shiro was down immediately, yanking her to her feet as the forest erupted into animalistic savage shrieks and taunts. Keith joined them, the blood draining from his face.

"What's happening?" Shiro demanded, his arm flaring to life. Odd...it didn't use to glow that color…

"Forsworn," Kisibhi answered, ears flat and pupils narrowed, she snarled at the savages as they were slowly surrounded. Red roared, slashing at a few who strayed to close, they jeered and spat at her in retaliation. Kisibhi shifted into a defensive stance between Shiro and Keith, and the bulk of the Forsworn group. Heart pounding, she counted at least five spell slingers and six brutes. A broad-shouldered briarheart pushed his way forward, smiling. The hole in his chest showed his replaced heart. Kisibhi hissed at him, her tail lashing.

"This doesn't have to end in a fight, cat. Just come quietly," he laughed, crossing his arms and sneering at them.

Kisibhi growled.

"Forget it, Mirachi. She won't come without kicking and screaming," A female spell slinger snapped, looking bored. She stepped forward and grabbed Keith's arm roughly. Before he could react, Kisibhi lashed out, a dark red spell hit the spell slinger. The Forsworn warrior landed several feet away, screaming and writhing on the ground as her body rotted and decayed before their eyes and she went still.

"Don't. Touch. Kittens," Kisibhi snarled, meeting Mirachi's gaze boldly and angrily. Her voice filled with contempt. He gestured at his warriors, and they rushed forward with battle cries.

The once peaceful forest erupted into chaos.

Shiro and Keith held their own, their lions lashing out to protect them. Kisibhi attacked all the spells slingers, blocking the ice and fire that rained down and firing back in rapid succession. Three ganged up on her, she gritted her teeth and struggled to keep the ward up against their constant attacks.

A shout from her left caught her attention, three forsworn ravagers were attacking Shiro at once, his attacks faltering. Kisibhi blasted the spell slingers back before throwing bolts of lightning at the ravagers, they crumpled as their organs exploded inside them. She met Shiro's eye, and his lips parted like he was going to say something.

Kisibhi was struck with multiple ice spells in rapid succession, she stumbled back dangerously close to the cliff as she regained her balance and blocked on overhead cleave with her staff. Kisibhi kicked him away, snarling. He laughed and charged, she managed to dodge and block each poorly aimed attack before striking him with an uppercut with her staff, he stumbled away clutching his broken jaw.

Screams of pain erupted in her head, momentarily blinding her, she looked around wildly, and her eyes fell on the lions. Both Red and Black had stepped into bear traps as they fought. Keith was hanging upside down by his ankle from a tree, and Shiro was backed up against another, fighting for his life.

"SHIRO!" Kisibhi shouted, he reacted on instinct and ducked away from a blow he hadn't seen coming that would have ended his life.

A shout split the air, Kisibhi turned sharply but had no time to block the Forsworn ravagers foot as it slammed into her chest. Kisibhi screamed as she fell off the edge, her staff lying several feet away from the cliff edge she had just vanished from, tumbling towards the canyon floor in a free fall.

_Keith_

Adrenaline coursed through his veins, making his hands shake as he struggled to free himself. It was an expertly crafted knot, which only made him angrier. His bayard was somewhere below him, and he was reminded vividly of Luke Skywalker hanging upside down in the ice cave.

'Why am I not taller?' Keith thought furiously, gritting his teeth as he struggled with the knot. A sharp shriek drew his attention, he looked up (or down in this case?) in time to see Kisibhi vanish over the cliff edge.

"QUIZNAK!" he swore, returning to the knot as panic started building in his chest. He finally managed to loosen it enough to pull his foot free, landing on the forest floor hard on his back and knocking the wind out of himself.

"Shiro?" He wheezed, choking as the air began rushing back into his lungs. Shiro was a few feet away, looking angry and terrified, having seen Kisibhi kicked off the cliff. Black and Red were preoccupied with bear traps snapped onto their front paws. Black held very still near her's to avoid pain, while Red angrily tried to gnaw her's off.

"Skeever-brain! She specifically asked for the khajit!" One of the women shouted in annoyance.

"She had it coming! If they want her so bad, they can go to the bottom of the canyon and scrape her up themselves!" The warrior who had just murdered their guide snapped back just as callously, "Those are khajit too, aren't they?" He gestured to Black and Red.

"Do you know how hard it is to kill a senche tiger?" The female protested, "I like my skin ON my body, pitbait!"

"Then she gets Nord tonight," Miachi snapped, interrupting them and glaring at Shiro and Keith. One of the warriors stomped closer to Keith, he lashed out with his knife on instinct, heart pounding. The resulting shout of pain ended in four of the Forsworn tackling Keith to the ground. He spat dirt out of his mouth as he was forced onto his back with his limbs pinned down by the warriors. The knife still clutched in his hand. Keith turned his head just enough to see them binding Shiro roughly.

"You little-!" the Forsworn laughed almost maniacally, his hand bleeding freely, "That wasn't very nice!"

'I hope it gets infected and you die!' Keith thought to himself as he glared silently at the man. One of the women forced his fingers apart and seized the knife, pulling the wrappings off.

"I haven't seen workmanship this fine for a long time! Probably get some extra septims for it!" She exclaimed ecstatically, admiring the knife. Mirachi shrugged, looking around for any signs of danger.

"She likes trophies. Hold onto it until we get there," he commented, sounding almost bored.

"And the tigers?" One of the warriors out of sight asked. Keith was too busy trying to free his arms to look.

"We're already late, if they want the damn cats we'll come back for them," Mirachi snapped, huffing in annoyance. They were forced to their feet, wrists bound tightly.

"Where are you taking us?" Shiro demanded laughter and whoops were his only response.

"Keep your flapper shut, or we'll shut it for you," one the warriors laughed, slapping Shiro's helmet hard enough to make him lose his balance a bit.

Keith smirked a bit as their visors expanded to cover their mouths. He could almost see Shiro smirking under his own.

"Give it a go then," Keith mocked, Mirachi and his band of savages all wore identical expressions of shock.

"Move out!" Mirachi snapped, still looking a bit wrong-footed and scowling at them as he led them through the forest back towards the way they'd come.

Keith kept silent, as did Shiro who was behind him, as they were marched off as prisoners. They needed to escape, but they'd been disarmed, and the bindings were so tight it would be incredibly challenging to have someone else untie them, let alone do it himself. Plus, with Kisibhi dead it was going to be twice as hard to leave the planet, not to mention the lions-

'...We can't form Voltron!' Keith realized with a horrified gasp. Kisibhi couldn't open that Oblivion pocket, place, whatever she called it, and get the bodies out if she was dead!

"We can't form Voltron…" he heard Shiro whisper behind him, having reached the same conclusion.

Keith didn't have time to dwell upon the enormity of the situation they'd gotten into as they approached a group of people wearing black robes. As they got closer, it became abundantly clear that these robes were very finely made, the hair on Keith's neck stood on end when they were close enough to make eye contact with these people. Something in his gut was screaming at him to run. He doubted he could actually escape, but something about their empty eyes and rotting teeth made his skin crawl.

"Are you savages deaf?" One of them, the leader, hissed angrily. His yellow eyes flashing with rage. "She specifically requested khajit!"

"We would've brought her too, but she took a tumble over the cliffside," Mirachi growled, looking exasperated.

"She had it coming!" Kisibhi's murderer grumbled again. Raucous laughter immediately overtook the group of Forsworn. Keith scowled as they laughed about her scream of fear, how could they treat death so lightly?

"Cats always land on their feet. That just might not help her in this situation," one of the women called, drawing more laughter. Keith glanced at Shiro, his hands were curled into fists.

"This is all you're getting for now unless you want the senche tigers that were with them," Mirachi roared, his warriors fell silent as he continued to talk to the robed man.

" _NOT_ the same!" The robed man hissed furiously, before rolling his eyes, "Just let us inspect the catch."

What happened next could be accurately described as the most uncomfortable frisking Keith had ever been forced to endure. These weird robed people were squeezing his arms and legs. Squeezing and pinching in more choice places that made him want to thrash until he was free and run.

'If this is how cattle feel, I'm going vegetarian,' he thought, gritting his teeth. To say he felt violated was an understatement.

Shiro received the same treatment and looked just as uncomfortable. They paused on his right arm, forcibly robbing away the glove to see the gleaming Galran metal.

"Metal?" the leader gave Mirachi a deadpan look "Taking septims off for that. Less meat."

'Meat? The quiznak is he-' the breath froze in his lungs as he realized what the man meant. Keith caught Shiro's eye, panicking. He could see the realization dawn on Shiro's face as well.

They were being sold as dinner.

"Hmph. They'll do. He'll be slow-cooked with a nice bast of juniper...The skinny one will need to be tenderized thoroughly before consumption," the leader commented almost dreamily while a hunched over man wrote what he said down on a piece of parchment. Keith was briefly reminded of Hanniball Lector from Silence of the Lambs with that comment. And that did _not_ make him feel any better!

"We don't need the details. Just hand over the gold," Mirachi snapped, crossing his muscular arms.

"Anything else to throw in?" The robed leader asked, arching an eyebrow. The Forsworn woman wordlessly held out Keith's knife. Anger bubbling in his stomach when one of the robed women took it. She inspected the blade with gleaming eyes, testing its balance and grip.

"Perfectly balanced…" she murmured, handing it to the leader, he smiled sickly.

"I'll throw in an extra hundred septims for the knife. The Ringbearer will want it," he agreed, tossing two fat money pouches at Mirachi, who started counting them.

"Shiro, what do we do?" Keith hissed desperately, Shiro looked like it was taking all of his self-control not to puke. Keith felt his blood run cold when Shiro gave him a helpless, frightened look. Mirachi finished counting the septims.

"It's been a pleasure," he said simply, and lead his band of savages back into the hills while the robed people grabbed Keith and Shiro, forcing them onward. The leader looked over his shoulder at them and smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And cut! HAHA! I know! It's cruel to leave it at such an intense cliffhanger like that, but I must unforutnately!
> 
> Again, thank you so much for waiting so patiently for this chapter. Like I said, TheCrookedQueen finally got her laptop fixed, so we were finally able to get this chapter written and out for all of you!
> 
> R&R please if you're enjoying this story so far. We absolutely love hearing from you guys!
> 
> We'll see you next chapter!


	12. Chapter 12

_Kisibhi_

"Dark… Moons…" Kisibhi panted, shoving her fist into another small hole in the cliff's face and dragging herself up another few feet. She'd hit a gnarled tree growing out of the cliffside and gotten stuck, after carefully freeing herself from the sharp bark and branches, Kisibhi had started carefully climbing back up. Her arms and legs shook from the exertion, one clawed hand grabbing the lip of the cliff, Kisibhi took a deep breath and launched herself up, throwing both arms over the cliff, claws digging into the soil. The loose earth crumbled, and she started sliding over the edge.

"No!" she gasped, hands shot out from nowhere and grabbed her wrists, yanking her up and throwing her on the ground. Kisibhi was struggling for breath and strength as she looked up at a tall, dunmer woman.

"If you're with... the cultists... This one will not go without a fight!" Kisibhi snapped breathlessly, limbs so heavy it was difficult to move. She glanced over at Black and Red, they were licking their wounds but had been freed from the bear traps.

The dunmer only laughed mockingly, "Me? With that trash? Please! For your information, I'm actually hunting them myself."

"...Bright moons, so is Kisibhi," Kisibhi laughed a little, forcing herself into a sitting position, "They took this one's kittens," She accepted a few bottles from the dunmer a bit hesitantly, casting poison detection spells on them before drinking the potions. She felt strength and energy begin flooding her system and replenishing her magicka stores.

"Alright, if you're done we should hurry. According to my sources, they're planning to have a feast tonight. And guess who's likely the main course?" she asked sarcastically. Kisibhi laughed bitterly as she got to her feet and kicked her staff into her hand, quickly healing Black and Red before leaping onto Black's back.

"How rude they did not invite us, let's go," Kisibhi replied hooking her staff on Keith's bayard and shoving in her satchel before Black and Red tore off back the way they'd come, following the internal mark point of their Paladin's.

_Shiro_

It was happening again, and it was taking everything Shiro had not to have a panic attack. He was a slave again, someone else's property. And if he didn't think of something, they were going to get eaten.

Shiro took a few deep breaths, swallowing the bile rising in his throat. They were approaching a walled-off encampment; it was crudely made but stable, the doors were pushed roughly open, revealing a camp with many fires burning. Shiro thanked whatever deity existed that their helmets kept them from smelling whatever was cooking. They were being led towards what reminded him of an old mine.

His eyes fell on a heavyset woman they were passing and gagged. She was gnawing on a human leg. Keith heard him and looked back. Shiro watched him choke and look away quickly; snickers drifted through the group.

They were roughly led into the old mine; it was cold and damp. Shiro tried not to look at the filthy remains of previous meals; bones cracked open to drain the marrow. Keith was shoved into a cell, Shiro followed, and they slammed the door, locking it.

"Freshen up for dinner, yeah?" The leader laughed, the other cannibals following him towards the sounds of a feast being prepared.

A retching sound caught his attention, he turned. Keith face shield had lifted, and he was emptying his stomach onto the cell floor, coughing. Before he could stop it, bile leaped up his throat, Shiro turned quickly, his helmet also opening up, bracing himself with an arm on the wall, he puked his guts up.

"Shiro, what are we gonna do?" Keith asked after a few minutes, his voice shaking. Shiro wiped his mouth with a trembling hand and turned to the Red Paladin. Keith looked as terrified as he felt.

"Watch the door, I'll see if my arm can burn through the ropes," Shiro whispered, sitting with his back against the door, with Keith taking up a position next to him. Shiro turned his attention to his bindings, his arm whirring to life and heating up immediately. For a moment, he thought the rope was catching, until he realized soft gold runes were glowing. And it wasn't catching.

"Shiro, what's taking so long?" Keith asked tensely, eyes glued on the hall.

"I… I think the uh… the ropes are fire proof," Shiro admitted, feeling sickened.

"What?" Keith stared at him, white-faced. Shiro took another deep breath before continuing.

"C'mere… See if we can untie the knots," Shiro suggested gently. Keith stumbled over and practically sat in Shiro's lap. He fumbled with the tightly knotted ropes on Keith's wrists, but Keith's fingers were shaking so bad he wasn't having any luck.

"Keith, you have to calm down. Panicking isn't going to help," Shiro told him softly, "Patience yields focus," Keith took a few deep breaths, nodding.

Loud footsteps echoed up the hall towards them. Shiro swore vehemently, throwing his arms around Keith and pulled him close. Keith gripped his armor, burying his face in Shiro's chest.

"Who's there?" Shiro demanded, his fear mixing with anger. Keith was never scared; he got angry. Seeing him scared made Shiro want to lay waste to the entire mine.

A chorus of laughter was the reply.

"Alright, love birds. Come, the Ring Bearer is waiting," the door swung open, and hands roughly pulled them apart and out of the cell. Keith swore so colorfully Shiro blinked a bit and smirked. The cultists dragged them down the tunnel into a grand cavern, filled with stone tables and fires waiting to cook on. On a dais at the back of the room was a woman, and behind her was an enormous alter featuring a grotesque bug.

"My my, what a catch!" The woman laughed, they were forced up towards the dais, and she skipped down a few of the steps and peered into Shiro's face. "Oh my, don't you just look delicious," she breathed, her teeth were a dentist's worst nightmare, not to mention her breath.

"Let us go," Shiro growled, she laughed. It was shrill and scratchy and made him want to puke again.

"You didn't derobe them yet?" She snapped at her followers; they flinched a bit, "We haven't got all night."

Before he or Keith could protest, they were stripped of their armor down to their underclothes. Shiro gritted his teeth, having faced the same humiliation before. Keith was shaking, shoulders hunched. He was giving the woman a venomous glare.

"Carefully, bruised meat has a bitter flavor," she stated smoothly, her eyes sliding up and down their bodies. "so lean, and tender looking… Come, big boy," she started up the dais, Shiro was wrestled up next to her, and the alter. He swallowed, glancing at Keith who was trying to throw the cultists off of him.

"Lay down, rest before dinner," the Ringbearer purred almost invitingly. Shiro shook his head, jaw clenched. Her eyes narrowed frostily at him. She threw a flash of green light at him, Shiro flinched, eyes closed. "Lay down, rest. You're so tired," she purred, his head was floating. The urge to lay down was almost unbearably strong; he felt calm. Safe.

'No. No. That was wrong. This is wrong.' He thought, shaking his head violently and the feeling left. His dread and fear were crashing back down.

"NO! I won't!" He yelled, stumbling backward. She looked furious.

"BIND HIM!" she screamed, Shiro couldn't overpower four of them at once and was tied, spread eagle, onto the altar. The stone was cold on his skin; his heart was pounding so hard he wondered if she could hear it. The Ringbearer stood over him and unsheathed a knife.

Keith's knife.

"NO! SHIRO!" Keith screamed desperately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: And here's the next chapter for this story!
> 
> I noticed that no one left reviews for our last couple of chapters. I hope that doesn't mean that you're bored with this story... well even if you are, we're continuing it anyway!
> 
> I know it seems that most of these chapters are fairly short right now, but I promise, they are going to start picking up in length soon. A lot of stuff is going to happen!
> 
> So, if youy enjoyed with chapter, send a review or PM please! Thank you!


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